


A Brawler's Guide to Love: Redux

by AsheBlender



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Asexual Character, F/F, Faunus exist in this, Oral Sex, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2020-07-11 09:54:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 29,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19926157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsheBlender/pseuds/AsheBlender
Summary: In which Yang realizes she's got it bad for one Blake Belladonna. But, will this new relationship be able to fix pains of old?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is a rewrite of a story I was writing about two years ago. I got a bunch of ideas that I couldn't refit into the old story and tossed them back and forth with a friend. They said I should try rewriting it! So, that's what I'm doing. And, this time, they're pushing me to finish it. So, here's hoping!
> 
> It's still got some similar dialogue from the previous version, but there's enough new I hope it's good for people who have already read it.
> 
> Anyway! Hope that this is better and that you enjoy.

Fall was always such an interesting time of the year.

It was a time of great change. The summer days of prior months were slowly swept away. The heat, summer bodies, the bright sun, the pool parties all gave way to the incoming cold. A particularly pessimistic person might say that it was a time of decay. A time when all around you, things started to die off. The pretty flowers, the leaves on the trees, most plants in general… It was really all kinds of grim, if you really thought about it. Of course, the fall, then, was the perfect backdrop for the holiday known as Halloween. It was a holiday steeped in spirits and the concepts of life and death. Supposedly, one of the nights that spirits were more easily seen than usual. A holiday where you hid your face and embraced not truly being yourself. A complex holiday, for sure.

Except for when the usual band of idiots was trying to decide what to do on such a night.

“I say we go pumpkin smashing!” A ginger girl cheers, slamming her fists on the lunch table with a wild grin. “Nothing compares to it! Just picture it!”

Yang rolls her eyes a little bit, leaning back in her seat with a sigh. This would probably be the third time Nora had brought this particular plan up. And, the blonde didn’t see the opinion on the matter changing at all in the five minutes it’s been since it last came up. The collective grumble from the table abroad seems to prove her point more than true. Fiddling with the slightly dulled hooks at the end of her prosthetic, she glances around for something to occupy herself with other than going through the motions of this conversation. Again.

Her eyes slide just to her right and onto her best friend. She probably shouldn’t be surprised.

Blake is sitting next to her, stoically reading a book and actively ignoring the conversation going on (lucky). In the last couple weeks, she’d found that her eyes had been drawn to Blake more and more. Not that she hadn’t ever looked at Blake with more than a friendly glance, but these last couple had been especially hard for her to handle. Her crush on the faunus girl had been an ongoing thing ever since her family moved here a few years ago. They’d become fast friends, even though Yang had been struck through the heart pretty early on. For a good while, that had worked and been enough. It had steadily started to wear on her, but it was something she could handle and completely control herself around.

And, then Blake got a damn haircut.

A fucking bob cut.

And, Yang had come to the realization that she couldn’t handle it.

This was probably one of the few times in the last couple weeks that she’d actually seen Blake in person because of it. She’d always come up with an excuse as to why she couldn’t go hang out. Homework, taking out Ruby for ice cream, chores, studying, pretty much anything that meant she could weasel her way out of hanging out with her one on one. At least with the group around, she could focus on something other than how hot her best friend was. How her hair just framed her face perfectly. How it really made the fluffy ears atop her head stand out all the more proudly. How much more mature it made her look. Especially with the dark eyeliner the girl had taken to wearing. And, frankly, how much it all seemed to actively try to put the blonde into cardiac arrest.

It just wasn’t fair.

She loved her relationship with Blake. She was darkly humorous and sassy as all hell. She didn’t take any shit from anyone. She was weird, too! Blake had such a strange catalog of interests that it usually would put most people right off of spending time with her. But, honestly, that was what attracted Yang the most to her. She doesn’t know how many times they’d had casual conversations about true crime while eating ice cream on the porch. Conversations during sleepovers about some weird thing she’d discovered. Blake was just… a friend she wanted to keep.

And, that was why she was so dead set on trying not to do anything. Blake was one of her few BEST friends in the world. Sure, she had friends that she loved and got along with, but Blake was just… different. And, she didn’t want that to change just because she had put her foot in her mouth. If Blake didn’t like her in that way and grew distant because of it, she would be devastated.

Hell, she didn’t even know if she liked girls! You'd think she'd have found out by now! But, Blake hadn’t shown any interest in ANYONE in her time here. There was nothing to go off of!

What was a lesbian to do?

Grow some balls and address her feelings directly, of course. But, was clearly not an option.

No, she was just going to hope this blew over.

Blake seems to realize she’s being watched, as her amber eyes flick up to meet Yang’s own. She’s caught for a minute on the calm expression on the girl’s face. Her eyebrow slowly raises. And, with that, Yang turns her head quickly back to the group’s conversation with a light flush on her cheeks. Out of the corner of her eye, she can see Blake continue staring at the side of her head for a few moments longer. Then, she just looks back down at her book like nothing had happened.

Nora had stood up from her seat to thoroughly explain her plan. “We put the pumpkins on a post. We get a big ol’ hammer. And we take turns just… Bam!” The excitable girl smacks her hand down on the table. “Smashin’ them! We get points based on how the pumpkin looks, how well it got smashed, how far all that pumpkin shrapnel went, how far the pumpkin itself flew~ Ohh, maybe we could stream it~”

Yang’s eyes slip over as a hiss of annoyance comes from the other side of the table. Weiss Schnee, looking very unenthused to be having this conversation again, speaks right up. “Smashing vegetation is not an activity anyone wants to do, Nora. Besides, I would rather not be rung up for petty vandalism just because you wanted to smash up a bunch of gourds like an idiot!”

“Hey, I’m not an idiot! Not that much, anyway!”

Pyrrha clears her throat softly. “Weiss is right. Erm, not about the idiot part, but about the ‘petty vandalism’ part. It would be… very disrespectful to smash such a thing tonight of all times. Especially when such hard work goes into them. Not to mention it would probably be very loud and disruptive.”

Nora looks personally offended. “Guys, we wouldn’t be smashing, like, pumpkins people made! I’ve got a whole wheelbarrow full of pumpkins back home! We just wheel them over to a clearing where no one’s around and freakin’ have at it!”

Pyrrha blinks and slowly looks to Nora’s boyfriend, who looks to be paying about as much attention to the conversation as Blake is. “Does she really have a-”

“Don’t ask.”

“Hehehe~”

He doesn’t elaborate and Pyrrha doesn’t seem all that eager to inquire further, so the conversation starts to lull. Nora looks back and forth among her friends and crosses her arms with a big pout on her face. Ren gently pats the small of her back and she plops back down in her seat. “Well, that’s my idea! What, you guys have a better idea? That’s super exciting? And, NOT a dusty Sam-hane exhibit at a boring ass museum?”

Weiss bristles and blushes. “Y-You’re just afraid of culture! And, it’s pronounced ‘Sah-wen’, you-”

Oh, boy, here we go.

There’s a sudden clearing of a throat that causes all eyes to turn toward it. Blake smirks a little bit, amused to have gotten everyone’s attention at once. Yang finds herself lightly biting her lip at the confidence the gothic girl seems to exude. She, like Ren, didn’t talk much in the group as a whole. So, whenever she had an idea, everyone was curious as to what would make her speak up. “I vote that we go to a real haunted house.”

Curiosity peaks at the table. Yang, herself, grins and sits up a little straighter, Honestly, that sounded like the perfect sort of thing to do on a night of spooks. And, such a Blake thing to suggest.

Weiss looks skeptical, lips drawn together in a thin line. “And, what exactly would that entail, Blake?”

Blake’s smirk grows as her eyes come to rest on the white-haired girl. “Exactly what it sounds like it entails, Weiss. We go out to a notoriously haunted house, we sneak inside, and we poke around to see what we can find. Simple, easy, and scary. Who knows? Maybe we’ll come into contact with a spirit or two..”

Yang can see Weiss’ cheeks get a little puffy in response. A cute pout of epic proportions. And, she pretty much knows exactly what the girl is about to say. She smiles and even mouths along to it in three, two, one… “There is no such thing as ghosts. That’s a stupid idea.”

Blake laughs. “Well, regardless of your opinion on the existence of ghosts, I think it would be a fun experience. And, appropriately creepy for the season. Much better than arguing around in circles all night, anyway. Don’t you think?” Then, she glances over just to Weiss’ side and grins at her way to sway Weiss to her side. “What do you think? Penny, Ruby?”

Weiss immediately frowns at the dirty tactic, though Blake doesn’t even acknowledge the warning glare she gets in return. Ruby looks up to find the group looking her way, then gently nudges Penny. The two had long since tuned out of the conversation on what to do tonight in favor of doodling pumpkins on Ruby’s notebook. But, now thrust back into the discussion, Ruby laughs nervously and rubs the back of her hair. Her silvery eyes look to Blake in confusion. “What, um… What was the question again?”

Weiss’ glare intensifies, warning Blake again not to try using her own girlfriends against her. Mostly because she, herself, knows that she can’t say no to either of them. Especially if Ruby uses her stupid, dumb, cute face to ask nicely. It’s a warning that goes completely unheeded and Blake smiles victoriously at her successful workaround. “We’re deciding what to do tonight. I suggested we go to a real haunted house. Thoughts?”

Ruby seems to consider this a moment, biting the back of her pen and occasionally filling in a few shading lines on her cute little pumpkin drawing. “I guess it could be pretty fun. Better than, like, a big, crowded party or something. Could be a really creepy place! What do you think, Penny?”

Penny tilts her head oddly. “Hm. I have never been to a haunted house, before… It would certainly be an interesting experience.”

Blake turns her head to Weiss with a smug expression. Two more for her cause. Weiss rolls her eyes and Jaune speaks up from where he’s sitting. “Umm, hate to jump in and be ‘that guy’, but, uh… How is this anymore legal than Nora’s pumpkin smashing thing?”

“It’s perfectly legal, guys...” Nora mumbles.

“..Uh-huh. But, like, we can’t just trespass on private property! That’ll get us into way deeper hot water than smashing a few pumpkins.” He says, expression one of concern. Pyrrha nods with him and looks back to Blake for an answer.

Blake shrugs. “Because it’s not private property. No one owns that plot of land, not even the town. No one has owned or inhabited that house for the last hundred years or so. So, we wouldn’t be trespassing on anyone. Completely legal.”

Weiss huffs again. “I highly doubt that.”

“I came across it on a walk in the forest and looked it up in the town’s history, Weiss. I did my research. If any of you doubt me, just look it up yourselves. You’ll see that I’m right. If you come along, I’ll even tell you some of the story behind it~”

Pyrrha smiles and nods, judging Blake to be telling the truth. “That works for me!”

Jaune rubs the back of his head. “...Yeah, okay.”

“Sounds spooky! Let’s do it!” Nora adds, finally having a viable option that wasn’t her own.

“N-Now, wait a minute-”

“I think it’s decided, Weiss.”

The alabaster girl glances around and finds that the decision seems to be unanimously in favor of heading out to Blake’s haunted house. She doesn’t seem very happy about it, but her only other option is to just sit around at home. And, she looks even less enthused to do that. She gives a dramatic groan. “Oh, fine. Since this entire group seems to have collectively lost their minds, we’ll go look around in this so-called ‘haunted house’.” She says with a frown.

Ruby giggles softly and reaches her hand out for Weiss’. She wiggles her fingers cheekily and Weiss rolls her eyes. She ends up taking them, though, because of course she does. No girlfriend could resist a hand-holdy Ruby. “C’mon, Weiss! Spooky old place, walking around like a ghost hunter!”

“I hate that show.”

“Everyone does! But, it might inspire my comic, too! You know that spooky part I’m trying to get reference for? Nothing like the real thing to inspire you! I be it’ll be fuuuun!”

“Or, we could just end up tromping around a filthy, dusty house and jumping at our own shadows.” Weiss mutters, though her tone clearly showed that her resistance to such a thing is breaking down. Especially when Penny slips her hand atop both of theirs and smiles excitedly at her. Weiss lets out a withering sigh and looks like she’s about ready to pass out from how red her face is suddenly getting.

“Fine, fine, we’ll go, okay?!” She squeaks.

Yang can’t help but grin. Oh, Weiss was whipped hard~

And, she very clearly loved them both to pieces. She’s sure that their relationship wouldn’t have worked in the slightest if she didn’t. And, it seemed to be the same in all directions. All three of them had a rather cute and immense affection for the other in some way or another. The crux of this relationship appeared to be Ruby, around which both Weiss and Penny seemed to revolve. That’s pretty much how the relationship started. Both Weiss and Penny vying for Ruby’s affections. Ruby had posed the question ‘why not both?’ and had somehow walked away with two girlfriends. When Yang had first been told of this, she had been immediately concerned. Polyamorous relationships were… hard, sometimes, and she just didn’t want to see any of the girls get hurt.

But, much to her surprise and happiness, the three worked out exceptionally well. They clearly had been friends beforehand and that transitioned right into a romance that had everyone squealing at the cuteness of. Between Ruby’s adorableness, Penny’s overwhelming enthusiasm, and Weiss being such a gay disaster that she can’t touch either of their hands without blushing all the way to her chest… you had a couple that was just the sweetest thing ever.

All because Ruby had spoken up.

Yang frowns slightly. She has to admit that jealousy slightly bubbles up when she thinks about that. Ruby was so much more courageous than her. Rather than just let things happen or pick a decision that would make her unhappy, she directly confronted her real feelings and came away happier than ever. Sure, Yang was a big thrillseeker and could easily dive into something if she thought it would get her heart pumping. She was brave, but when it came to the idea of telling her OWN crush how she felt…? She was more than a little lacking in that regard. Why couldn’t she just do it? Why did Blake leave her so tongue-tied and useless? Especially when she was so outgoing, usually?

This particular line of questioning leads her to slowly look toward Blake once more. That’s a mistake.

Blake is looking at Weiss with a coy smile. She’s clearly amused that her plan had worked exactly how she’d wanted it to. Her soft (at least Yang imagines they’re soft), kissable lips are curled so gently that her smile is almost hidden. Her amber eyes shine with the light of the room, as well as from her deviousness. And, her ears are perked high and playful, twitching every now and again. Her bangs bounce cutely when she tilts her head. Yang’s cheeks feel warm and she is definitely fucked for looking over here.

How much longer could she keep this up? If she wanted to keep Blake as a friend, she couldn’t keep dodging her forever. But, at the same time, she could barely get through a conversation without making herself look like an ass.

Her mouth goes dry as Blake notices her looking at her again. Those shiny, amber eyes slip into her gaze and right through her soul. Her mouth falls open slightly and she gulps quietly. Blake just smiles at her, clearly still happy that her plan is going through the way she wanted. Yang only manages to give a feeble thumb up before she quickly looks away, blonde hair swishing as she does so. She forces herself not to look at Blake and not to further make an idiot out of herself. She can briefly see the look of confusion and concern pass through Blake’s features as she does so.

She hopes Blake doesn’t ask what was wrong. What the hell was she supposed to say?

Oh, what’s wrong? Sorry, Belladonna, I was just thinking about how kissable your lips are and how incredibly hot I find you? Yeah, that would SURE go over well, wouldn’t it?

She can feel Blake looking at her. But, she doesn’t turn to face her. She can’t. If she does, her face is going to light up like a jack o’ lantern. She starts lightly tapping the metal of her prosthetic on the table, a nervous tic she’s had for quite a while now.

“W-Well, anyway.” Weiss says rather loudly and, for once, Yang is glad that Weiss likes to direct conversations. Her rather big mouth is a natural attention-grabber and Blake finally takes her gaze from the side of Yang’s head. Thank you, you wonderful white-haired blabbermouth. “With all that excitement out of the way, I think we should make plans for next week, while we’re all here. After all, that big test is coming up and we need to organize study groups-”

Another collective groan goes through about half the table.

* * *

Yang is very happy to see her bed and wastes no time in flopping right down onto it. Her hair falls thickly over her face and she lazily starts stripping out of her shirt. It’s not a hundred percent lazy, however, as it still takes some fiddling to get her faux arm out of her sleeve. Once she gets it off and tosses it haphazardly across the room, she starts slipping the harness of her prosthetic off her shoulders. She places it carefully onto the bed beside her after she shrugs them off. She debates for a moment on keeping the sock on her arm before deciding it could use some air and pulling it off, too. As she suspected, her arm is pretty sweaty. Probably from all that Blake-looking she was doing earlier.

That all done, she lets out a sigh as she flops back and closes her eyes. “For fuck’s sake.”

She can hear Ruby giggle as she steps inside the room and tosses her backpack on her own bed. The two girls shared a room. Mostly because their house had few actual rooms in it and only one floor. The kitchen and living room were basically all one area, with two bedrooms and one bathroom. The girls had opted to take one of the rooms for themselves when they first moved in, leaving their parents to the other.

Despite the fact they were two completely different kinds of people, they shared the room well. They both used to be rather messy, but that had cleared up on Ruby’s side real quick when Weiss started dating her. The time she had sat down on a pair of Ruby’s underwear had nearly done the poor girl in. Ever since that day, Ruby has been vigilant about keeping her side squeaky clean. All organized and neat, clothes in her little dresser and books and games tucked neatly away. She had little drawings doodled on her wall that looked like cute, cartoony versions of her and her girlfriends holding hands. Overall, very cute.

Yang’s side of the room was a sort of… organized chaos. Yeah…

Her stuff may LOOK haphazardly placed, but she knew where everything was! That pile was her shirts. That pile stuffed into her dresser was underwear. Her wrestling gear was hanging on her closet door. Her laptop was plugged in and charging over there. Little relics of the past sit on her desk… Okay, THAT pile of clothes could probably use a wash.

Overall, though, she knew right where to find everything right now and changing it would set her off-balance.

“Everything okay, sis?” Ruby asks as she meanders to her dresser and starts looking through it for something to wear tonight. The blonde can hear her shuffling around and making cute little noises of consideration. “You were kinda… fidgety and uncomfortable looking the whole way home.”

“Maybe I was just gagging at that makeout sesh you had with Weiss before we left.”

The redhead splutters and nearly drops whatever she had in her hand. An embarrassed squeal comes from her as she whips around to look at her grinning sister. Yang pops one eye open to give her a smug look and Ruby pouts, blushing brightly. “Th-That wasn’t making out, they were… really long kisses! No tongue!”

“Uh-huh.”

“Super serious!”

“You were all over each other, sis. If I hadn’t walked around that corner, Weiss would have already had her hand squeezing your-”

“Y-Yang!” The resulting squeak comes loudly, making the blonde hum.

“Pshhh~ Relax, Rubes, I’m just messin’ with you.” She chuckles, putting her arms behind her head in a casual manner. How could she be a proper big sister and NOT tease her little sis about her romances? It had to be the first rule of the big sister handbook. “You guys are super cute together, so don’t sweat it.”

Ruby grumbles and fiddles with the sweatshirt she’s taken into her hand. “Doesn’t make it any less embarrassing when you just bring it up… And, it started out as just a little kiss goodbye, I swear! But, then Weiss got into it and Penny just kept goading her and adding fuel to the fire and, and you’re dodging my question! Why were you acting so weird and mopey?”

Yang bites her lip. “It’s… nothing, Ruby. Just a long day, lots of moving my arm, y’know? Got kinda sweaty in there and that always puts me in a funk. Skin gets all irritated n’ shit.”

Thankfully, Ruby seems to buy that and sends a sympathetic smile to her sister. She walks over to Yang’s bed and plops down. She gives a gentle pat to the blonde’s knee. “Oh, I’m sorry… Maybe you could give it a rest for tonight? Doctor said you didn’t need to wear it all the time, right?” She says as she glances at Yang’s stump. “Maybe put the sock on it so it doesn’t get cold, though. I heard tonight’s gonna be kinda chilly.”

She looks at the sock, then wrinkles her nose. “Er… Maybe a different one.”

Yang chuckles. “Yeah, probably. I can do most things one-handed, anyway. It’s no biggie. Maybe I’ll use that Halloween sock to be all festive.” She props herself up on her elbows and smiles at her sister. “But, enough about my very festive arm, the big question is… how are YOU going to dress for your girls, tonight, hmmmm?”

Ruby plays with the garment in her hands and holds it up with a sweet, innocent little smile. It’s a rather plain red sweatshirt, one that has obvious signs of wear by this point. “Well, I, um… I kinda figured I was gonna wear this cus it was gonna be cold.. But, do you think it’s too plain? Maybe I should… I dunno… dress up a little more or… something…? I wouldn’t wanna be, like, boring or anything.”

Dammit, did those two have the best girlfriend ever or what?

Yang reaches up to tussle Ruby’s hair. “Don’t sweat it. Whatever you wear, I bet they’re gonna eat it up. Weiss especially~”

Ruby ignores that last comment and just makes a happy hum in response. Then, she hops up off Yang’s bed and glances down at her with a small smirk. “You better hurry up and get dressed, too, if we want to get there in time. And, I kiiiiinda doubt you wanna just run around in your bra in October.”

“Says who? Maybe I will.” Yang replies as Ruby playfully rolls her eyes and walks back over to her dresser. Yang runs a hand through her messy hair with a sigh, then purses her lips. An evil grin stretches across her face and she slowly looks back toward Ruby. The redhead seems to sense this and slowly turns her head to look at her sister with a raised eyebrow. She really shouldn’t, but… How can she resist?

“After all, it’s a pretty… _bra-d_ attire, right~?”

A low groan of suffering comes from Ruby’s mouth as she turns back to put her FULL attention on picking out her clothing and pointedly stares at it. “Yang… that wasn’t even good.”

“Are you kidding? It’s the _breast_ pun I’ve made all day~”

“Yang, I’m literally begging you.”

That gets a snort out of the blonde and she lazily waves her hand. “Fine, fine, since you had to go and beg… Well, that and you’re the cutest lil’ sis a girl could ask for.”

Ruby gives a little snort of laughter, herself, and throws one of Yang’s Halloween socks at her. “Oh, shut up and get your shirt on, Yang.”

“Yeah, yeah…”

“Oh, yeah, Penny said she’d meet us here, if that’s alright? Weiss said she’ll meet us down at the park with everyone else.” The redhead says, starting to quickly change her clothes. She’s very speedy, considering that she’s done by the time Yang has lazily kicked her pants off.

“Fine by me.” She replies, only to hear the doorbell ring outside the room. Ruby’s eyes light up and she squeaks a happy ‘that’s her!’ before dashing out of the room. The speed of her exit causes the door to shut behind her and leaves Yang by herself in the room. She flops back down with a sigh as her toes idly poke at her discarded pants.

She really did want to go to this house, but… She was really worried that she was going to screw something up while she was there. Do something stupid. Say something stupid. It was getting harder and harder for this current situation to keep going. Something had to give when it came to Blake. And, if Ruby had noticed how fidgety she was, then Blake definitely knew something was up. Not that she’d been exactly subtle, but Blake was a lot more perceptive than her sister. Just in time for these kinds of thoughts, a light ‘ping’ comes from her phone. She winces and reaches into the pocket of her pants and fishes it out.

Just as she expected and feared, it’s from Blake.

_Hey, I haven’t seen you in a while… And, today you seemed… off. Is everything okay? You know you can talk to me, right?_

She bites her lip. She was worried. Of course she was worried. Yang had been acting like a total idiot these past couple weeks. She’d gone out of her way to avoid being alone with the girl and it was obviously going to be noticed eventually. People liked to think Blake didn’t care because she was pretty antisocial and reclusive to most people, but in truth she had a big heart. Especially to the right people.

She decides to tap out a quick response. Anything’s better than nothing at all, right?

_totes okay! just a lil distracted is all. see u there k? ur place better be spooky! :3_

With that, she tosses her phone back onto the bed and hopes that seemed convincing enough. She goes about starting to change into fresh clothes, all the while taking a few calming breaths to herself. This was just an outing with friends to a spooky, abandoned house in the dead of Halloween night. Nothing to get all bent out of shape about. She was fine. She could do this. She wasn’t going to make a complete ass out of herself like earlier.

She holds her breath.

Then groans.

“Yeah, right.”

She hears Ruby calling from the living room (Penny cutely mirroring her tone and inflection right after her) and presses her lips together as she slips her phone into the pocket of the black jacket she throws on. “...Right...” She says, taking another breath she hopes will calm her down. “Let’s go.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Hello, Yang!” Penny’s voice loudly calls out from across the room. She didn’t really have to yell to have Yang hear her, but excitable was just sort of Penny’s default state when it came to people she liked. Yang was happy that she could be counted among the people the ginger-haired girl liked that much. Of course… one of the people she liked the MOST was currently taking a quick step back and blushing as she brushes herself off. Oh, they’d definitely been doing some little smooches. Ruby clears her throat and gives a little wave.

_Nice try, sis, I know you were snuggling._

“Hey, Penny. What’s up, girl?” The blonde replies as she closes the door to their room and steps up closer to the two. She gives the girl a casual wave, which Penny reciprocates despite being right next to her.

Penny was a bit of an odd girl in most respects. As far as Yang had known, the girl hadn’t really had any friends before Ruby had all but pulled her into their friend group. It had sort of just happened one day. Ruby burst into the lunch room, dragging the poor, lanky girl behind her. Beaming, she had announced that she had made a new friend and her name was ‘Penny Polendina’. Yang hadn’t even heard of her before that. Which… apparently was kind of a sad truth. Before their group, Penny didn’t really hang around anywhere. She was by herself more often than not. Anyone who DID notice her in the crowd were often put-off by her somewhat eccentric personality. Her manner of speaking was also strange, annunciations on certain words not rolling off her tongue the best. This combined with her excitable nature caused a lot of people to awkwardly avoid her.

Well, except bullies. They had a goddamn field day.

They’d make fun of the way she moved and talked. How ‘creepy her eyes were’. How she just seemed like a robot in a human body. And, the poor girl was way too nice to defend herself.

Ruby had put a stop to that real quick by bringing her into the fold. If there was one thing you didn’t want to do, it was piss off Ruby’s particular friend group. You’d never find a group more willing and able to rise up and protect a victim of bullying than them. Especially when one of their own had a valued interest in them. Ruby had told them all they needed to know.

And, the next time they came around, Nora and Yang were waiting to trounce their asses thoroughly. She really bets they would think twice about laughing the next time the shortstack and the cripple threaten them bodily harm. Considering the fact she hadn’t heard a peep from them in a good, long time… she thinks the message got through loud and clear.

Though she’d never think of these things in a teasing way, Yang had to admit that Penny was the most unique person she’d ever met. Most people had something they kept to themselves. A secret, a little white lie, something private that only they would know about. Penny Polendina had nothing like that about her. She was incredibly genuine and sweet, but she could be almost brutally honest when speaking. She could see how that might irk an unprepared person. But, to Yang, it was pretty refreshing. Someone who was entirely honest and wore all their emotions on their sleeve.

She wishes she was a bit more like Penny, honestly. Maybe then she could just say something to Blake without worrying so much.

Penny certainly didn’t seem worried about keeping her big smile right on Yang, bouncing slightly on her heels. “The ceiling is up!” She gasps excitedly.

The blonde can’t help but snicker, placing her hands on her hips and cocking her head slightly. “Close, but no cigar.”

“Aw..”

“I meant how you were doing since I saw ya last.” She says, then tapping her chin gently with her fingers. “I mean… I guess it wasn’t that long ago, but, uh… I bet you did something in that time frame, right?”

“Oh. Oh! Well, yes! After I cheered Weiss on for taking charge in the make-out session-”

“Penny! I-It wasn’t!!”

The girl blinks at her girlfriend. “Oh? I thought an open-mouthed kiss with tongue was making out? Was I incorrect? I do not do it, so I mix up the terms, sometimes...” She asks with genuine curiosity.

Ruby’s face was lighting up with a blush that was steadily beginning to turn the color of her sweatshirt. She even has to cover her face with her hood when Yang can’t help the delighted cackle that comes from her lips. “Oh my god, Penny, please...” She squeaks in embarrassment, Penny smiling sheepishly and gently putting an arm around the girl’s shoulder.

Clearly she knows she said something embarrassing, as she quickly changes the subject.

“And, then I went home and sat on my bed for approximately ten minutes! In that time, I told my father I was going out tonight, he gave me a snack, and, I received ten messages. One was from Ruby telling me I could meet you here! The next was also from Ruby, reminding me where your house was so I didn’t get lost! Then, Weiss sent me a comment, which turned into a chain discussion of what kind of lip balm Ruby was using! Weiss commented that it was very tasty and asked me if I helped pick it out-”

“A-And, that’s good right there, Penny!” Ruby steps in, cutting the taller girl off with a teeny kiss to the chin. Penny’s attention is briefly taken by the little smooch and she stops right in her line of thought to make a little cooing sound and rub her forehead down against Ruby’s. Her hands gently slip down to hold Ruby’s. And, as Yang wipes tears of laughter from her eyes, she can officially say that this is the cutest thing ever. She bets people could die from this sort of sweetness.

Then, Ruby bites her lip just a touch, mumbling a quiet question. “So… She really did like it?”

“I believe so. I do not think she would have discussed it with me, otherwise~”

“Penny, I totally owe you one. You’re the best! Mwa~”

And, then, Ruby gives her girlfriend another little smooch on the cheek, having to stand up on her tiptoes in order to do it. Penny seems to enjoy that, giving the tiny redhead a big hug and lifting her up a little. Yang can’t help the… slight feeling of envy that bubbles up as she watches this. Again, Ruby was showing how much… braver she was than Yang herself. Here she was, giving Penny smooches without any kind of fear, In front of her sister, even.

And, she couldn’t even muster up more than gurgles when it came to Blake. Yang Xiao Long, you’re such a chickenshit.

She clears her throat lightly. “Sooo, uhhh… You guys need another hour or are we good to go? Not that this isn’t completely adorable and everything.” She says with a little smile.

Ruby lightly pops off Penny’s cheek and shakes her head. “N-No, we’re fine! We can go!”

* * *

This October seemed chillier than most, for some reason. Yang’s not really sure why that is. It certainly makes tonight seem more… haunting, if you will. Or, maybe that was just the chill of a cold breeze going right up her spine. You never really could tell. Despite all being clad in coats and sweatshirts, that breeze seems intent on pushing right through them regardless. After a shiver and a ping of gratitude that Ruby had reminded her of the sock for her arm, she looks up to the two girls in front of her. “Jeez, guess winter’s coming early, eh? Brrr. Gimmie back summer, sun, and tanlines any day.”

Penny nods and glances back as she and Ruby cutely swing their joined hands together. They’d been walking like that for a good few feet after Penny had insisted on holding hands with a smile and a blush. Apparently it was ‘too cold’ for Ruby to have her hands unoccupied. “It has been surprisingly cold in the last few weeks. Abnormally so, even.”

The ginger-haired girl frowns a little bit. “I do hope Weiss decided to dress warmly. She is… rather thin. I would hate to see her get a chill. And, she is often too proud to accept my jacket, despite needing it. And, that bad habit of just… wearing skirts all the time. A cute skirt will definitely not protect her from the wind.”

“Well, that’s Weiss for ya. Fashion first...” Ruby says with a nervous laugh, seeming to really hope that doesn’t have to happen. She’d hate to have to forcibly shove her girlfriend into a warm article of clothing again. Especially not after the Snuggie Incident. “Maybe she’ll wear that coat with the fur on the hood… Keep her top warm, at least?”

At this point, Yang starts to kind of tune them out. Not that hearing the discussion of what kinds of warm articles Weiss should be wearing isn’t a fascinating view into the life of a rich girl. But, she didn’t really need or care to hear it all that much. She trails behind enough to keep her sister in view, but far back enough that she can keep out of their cutesy conversation. She sighs, gently scratching the soft fabric at the end of her bad arm. She’s kinda glad she didn’t haul her arm all the way out here. The metal and plastic would get pretty cold out here in this weather. And, an unpleasantness to add on top of an already existing unpleasantness was so not something she wanted to deal with right now.

She looks up at the night sky with a sigh, watching the stars sparkle dimly from the blackness. The moon is high in the sky, casting a dull pall down onto the sidewalk. Aside from the light sounds of conversation ahead of her, the world is strangely… quiet. It’s weird. It’s like there’s nobody around on this side of the neighborhood. No trick or treaters, no cars, no late night drunk wanderers, nothing. She’s unsure whether it’s a peaceful silence or an unnerving one, to be honest.

She’s so focused on which of the two it is that she shrieks loudly when her phone buzzes in her pocket. Penny and Ruby look back suddenly with wide eyes, her sister’s holding a bit of worry in them. She gives them a shaky thumb’s up and they go back to their conversation after making sure she’s alright. She takes her phone out and unlocks the screen, a new message from Blake appearing immediately.

_Alright, I get it. Whatever’s bothering you, you don’t want to talk about it. That’s fine, I won’t press. Just… remember. If you ever need to talk, I’m there for you, okay? Even if it’s just someone to listen._

She groans quietly. Of course she’d seen right through that. And, with the way she was talking, it seemed like she was concerned about something more serious than what the reason was. Because the real reason was just stupid. The real reason was just her not knowing how to express what she felt, of being too nervous to take a step and it starting to negatively affect her relationship. She almost laughs aloud at the absurdity of it all. She’s running a hand through her hair, trying to come up with something to say when another message pops up.

_Btw, the house is definitely spooky. Guaranteed to creep Weiss out big time. ;3_

And, that’s something she can latch onto with some filler bullshit. Just… completely circumvent the prior conversation entirely. Even though she desperately wants to to type something else. This was how she was handling it. Maybe just trying to be her usual goofy self will help her be able to look Blake in the eyes again. Remind her that they’re just best friends that goof around. And, that she’s not a complete coward and idiot for letting it get this far.

_Guarantee? Ohhh, Belladonna~ u always know the best places. can’t wait to go all ghost hunter & maybe scare the pants off weiss. maybe skirt? girls dunno yet._

Blake replies back.

_Come and find out. How far out are you guys?_

_Should be there soon._

_Kay, cya there._

Now, if she could just talk to Blake like that normally, everything would be perfectly fine. Then again, phone messages didn’t accurately portray just how cool Blake was in real life. Or, how soft her lips are as she speaks and WHY IS SHE THINKING OF HER LIPS AGAIN?!

She shoves her phone back in her jacket with a frustrated huff and a blush steadily spreading across her cheeks. She notices that, in the time she had taken to deliberate over those messages, Penny and Ruby had gotten pretty far ahead of her. She should double-time it if she wants to catch up. Call her superstitious, but she really doesn’t want to be left behind on a night like this. Besides, maybe talking to them would help to cool her face down a little bit. Worth a try!

“Hey guys,” She says, jogging up and thinking of a random topic to get her mind of things. “How come Weiss didn’t meet up at our house, too?”

Ruby jumps a bit, having nearly forgot Yang was there with how quiet she was being. Not even a single pun the whole way! “Oh, uh… Maybe she spent a bunch of time picking out what to wear? She does that, sometimes. She also lives on pretty much the other side of town, so it was probably just easier for her to go right to the park. I think. Maybe? I haven’t actually been to her house?”

Yang raises her eyebrow. Come to think of it, Ruby and Penny never really stayed at Weiss’ house as long as they’d been together. Weiss only ever came to their house. Though, maybe the Rose-Xiao Long house was just a natural meeting point. “Huh...”

“Oh, look! Almost there!” Penny says, interrupting that particular train of thought as she points toward their destination a few blocks down. Blake had sent a mass text to all of them to meet up at Oum Park, where she would lead them onward to where the house was. Seeing how Blake was the only one who knew where this supposed house was, that was probably the smartest idea.

Oum Park was a pretty interesting place to visit. It was a rather large park with all the sorts of playground equipment that had kids and their parents coming in on afternoons for a bit of fun. It had a round path that looped the park for people who wanted to jog around. It even had a little food place way off on a building to the side. All in all, it was the sort of nice park a community could use freely. The only odd thing about Oum Park was that it had a clearing that led into a rather thick amount of forest, blocked off by a fence to discourage little kids from wandering into it.

If she had to guess, that was where they’d be going. It would only make sense. Blake liked to wander those woods in her free time and her insinuations that this place was ‘out of the way’ only validated that idea. She’d walked with Blake in the forest a few times before, though she didn’t have near the proclivity of finding things that the other girl did. Nor did she really care to go that deep inside. Blake had the seeming love of getting into places that people either couldn’t find, weren’t aware of, or didn’t want people inside. It certainly didn’t hurt that she was flexible as all hell and….

Oh.

Oh, shit, is she ever in trouble.

They reach the rather simple and cute entrance to the park, that being just a simple stone walkway leading off the sidewalk and inside. Just to the side, a small, white pedestal reads ‘Keep Moving Forward’, a small symbol of a circle with the shadows of birds flying through it just underneath. Yang can’t help but smile at that a bit as she walks by it, entering the park proper after a few steps.

As they come closer to the center, they can see several familiar forms hanging out on the playground equipment. Seeing how it was a cool, Halloween night, there obviously weren’t kids playing on them at this time of night. Nope, that was the usual gang of idiots, all waiting around to start the tour. And, Yang can make out one voice already, louder than all the rest. Yup, Nora is excited and letting everyone know about it.

“Ahhhh, this is so exciting! We’re gonna film stuff and poke all around!Maybe we’ll see a ghost!” She says, bouncing up and down before all but attaching herself to Ren with a hug. She gasps. “Do you think we’ll see enough stuff that we can discuss on the Pod, tomorrow?”

“I thought we were reviewing Trick R’ Treat tomorrow.” He states calmly.

“Well, yeah, but… If we see a ghost, that’s gotta be a focal point, Ren! It’s an interesting story! Maybe we could have one of our friends as a guest!”

She can practically feel Weiss rolling her eyes as she speaks out next. “Nora, I’m betting the only ‘interesting story’ you’re going to get is dusty furniture and old rugs. News at eleven! This house is fucking old!” The girl says, coming into view as the three walk up closer.

Yang finds her teeth worrying at her lip as a calm voice suddenly speaks out amongst them. She glances upward to find Blake casually sitting atop the swing-set and smiling down at a pouting Weiss. “Ye of so little faith, Weiss.” Blake purrs softly, her tail casually wrapping around the metal structure she’s sitting on. “Don’t believe me? Even on tonight of all nights? Surely, you can feel it. Something’s… weird about tonight. Something’s… strange. It’s too still.”

Weiss scowls at the faunus. “The only ‘weird’ thing around here is the idiot sitting on the swing-set.”

“Ouch. That really hits me where I- Yang.”

Weiss makes a confused expression at first, though nods in understanding as Blake hops off the swing-set and right down in front of Yang. All too soon, she’s aiming that charming smile right at her. And, Yang’s pretty sure her knees are turning to jelly just from being in it’s radius. Blake is dressed rather simply, like all of them. Just a black hoodie and some ratty jeans. You wouldn’t think that would be an exceptionally hot look for someone, But Blake… more than pulls it off. The way it hugs her lithe form, emphasizing her hips and the way they seem to sway and lead down to even longer legs…

Mmph!

Well, let’s just say Yang’s glad it’s darker so her blush wasn’t so visible.

“Hey, Blake! W-We’re here!” Yang manages to say, her voice cracking more than a little as it bubbles out of her throat. What she had just said was incredibly obvious. She knows this. But, her brain is much more focused on the fact that Blake is coming closer and closer to her than it is on things like forming coherent sentences. Or, anything else, really.

To her credit, Blake doesn’t really address the fact that Yang was squeaking like she was an embarrassed pre-teen. In fact, all she does smile at her best friend. “..Noted. And, not a moment too soon. Nora was about ready to stage a mutiny over there.”

“Oh. Wow. Well, um.. Th-Thanks for.. not letting her do that.” She mumbles quietly, eyes slipping off Blake’s gaze. She pointedly avoids contact with her friend’s eyes. She can see that same look of confusion cross Blake’s face, her eyes slightly narrowing as she tries to figure out what’s going on. She steps right in close to the blonde, trying to look her in the eyes. She’s so close that Yang can smell the hint of lilac from Blake’s hair, lightly tinging it and making her heart do a summersault. Yang can’t help that her eyes slip back down to the amber looking so intently up at her,

Oh, fuck. This was it. She couldn’t do it.

She knew what was going to happen next. Blake was going to ask what was wrong. She had to. It was in Blake’s nature to want to help. She wouldn’t even make it particularly hard. All she would do was look up at her with those piercing eyes and softly ask her if she was alright. And, that would be it. She would spill everything. All her resistances would be shattered. It would be over. She couldn’t lose another person because of something stupid she’d done. She couldn’t. She starts to fidget with her jacket, Blake’s lips gently parting in worry.

“Yang...”

“B-Blake, I-”

“Weiss! You are wearing a skirt! And, pants At the same time!”

Both Yang and Blake quickly turn their heads toward the sound of the sudden noise. They find Penny lifting Weiss right up (shrieking in surprise and blushing the whole way) in a big, cuddly hug. Ruby watches with a grin as the shriek is immediately muffled by Penny’s sweater. Weiss appeared to have gone somewhat with the best of both worlds in her chosen garments. She did have a skirt, yes, but she also wore some rather thick-looking tights underneath said skirt. The deep black of the tights made the white, pleated skirt really stand out on her body. Add that to an equally white blouse and jacket and you had someone who looked like she was about to go out on the town instead of into an old, decrepit house. Her girlfriends apparently are quite taken by it. She… almost feels bad for the girl as Penny all but snuggles the life out of her.

Of course, as far as ways to die go, you could do a lot worse than being snuggled to death by Penny.

She’s glad for the distraction, as it lets her slip away from Blake because she’s sure she heard… Nora calling from… over there. Yeah.

She doesn’t even look back as she hurries over to where the ginger is talking animatedly with her boyfriend. If she looks back, she’ll just catch the concern in Blake’s eyes and feel even worse about all this. She has a rather chill conversation with the two, considering the fact that neither had known she was coming over AND she had just started talking about something randomly. Over the course of it, she somehow got roped into going onto Nora’s podcast as a guest.

She… has no idea how that happened, but she guesses this is just her life, now.

It’s probably some sort of punishment the world is giving her.

“So, we’ll either be talking about our experience in the house or about Trick R’ Treat, if Ren gets his way. Do you know that movie?”

“Ummm…”

She glances over her shoulder as she hears Blake speak up, flicking on her flashlight and casting it right across her face. It’s good that she did, as it was starting to get hard to see the others from even an arm’s distance. With Blake’s turned on, various different implements of casting light start flicking on as if everyone suddenly realized it was dark at the same time. She can’t help but smile at the way Blake’s voice comes out, dropping into a low and dramatic tone. “Alright, so have we got everyone who’s going? Flashlights or phones to light the way? Good. Good. You’ll need them. It’s only going to get darker as we go deeper into the forest. The more light the better~”

Jaune swallows thickly, casting a nervous look toward the forest that makes the faunus grin wider.

Oh, Blake was _loving_ this.

“Anyway. Let’s get going while the night’s still young. Follow me.” She says mysteriously, taking the lead and taking a few steps toward the forest before stopping short. Her tail swishes behind her casually, amber eyes looking right toward the group. “Oh, and… try and keep up. If you get lost in the forest, we might never hear from you again~”

Weiss pipes up from the back, clearly unimpressed with the performance. “I have yet to see something scarier, tonight, than your attempt at acting, Belladonna.”

That gets a laugh from the group, along with Nora giggling ‘buuuuuuuuuuuuuurn’ and holding a fist to the alabaster girl. Said girl simply smirks and bumps her fist to the other girl’s without looking away from Blake. The girl doesn’t seem to bothered by Weiss’ comment and merely shrugs at her. “I guess we’ll see, then, won’t we? Maybe you’ll change your tune. After all, it’s usually the dainty ones that get snatched first, right?”

Weiss just huffs and crosses her arms. “Hmph!”

They start on the journey from the park to the forest, hopping over the fence that provides a last barrier from entering the forest. As they enter the wooded area, the difference in terrain is noticeable immediately. Instead of the neatly trimmed grass of the park, the ground is uneven and the sounds of twigs and leaves popping and snapping under their feet becomes much more audible. There’s surprisingly no paths to or from anywhere. She’s surprised Blake can even tell where she’s going. Because, a lot of it just looks… the same?

Blake… does know where she’s going, right?

She bites her lip a bit as she slowly looks around. Yang wasn’t easily scared, but she had to admit that something about this forest was giving her the creeps, tonight. Was it the pitch black sky? The silence of the whole world aside from their own noises? That dusty light from the moon? The fact that she had to be on Nora’s podcast tomorrow? Honestly, take your pick. Any one of those was terrifying.

Blake sure picked a hell of an atmosphere for Halloween, that’s for sure.

She finds herself looking over to see how her friends are handling this sort of environment. Each of them seem to be handling it in a different way.

Nora is absolutely ecstatic about being here, buzzing with anticipation of catching something creepy. She’s taking footage of the forest on her phone, commenting how this or that might be hiding something in the shadows. She also keeps looking back to her boyfriend, putting her camera toward him and asking him whether they’ll see ‘a three headed poltergeist’. He comments that he’s not sure it works that way and giving other equally short replies. He keeps looking up at the moon. She’s not sure if it’s just her eyes playing tricks on her but, in the light of Nora’s phone, he almost looks a bit unnerved by it.

Jaune is definitely regretting every decision he’s made in his life that led him to this point. He keeps casting looks around the forest until he seems to get it in his head that maybe looking around so much would attract something to him. Pyrrha doesn’t seem to be having any such fear. To her, it looks to just be a rather peaceful walk at night. She always DID look at the bright side of things.

Penny is offering interesting little facts about the trees and of the leaves their feet are currently crunching through. Ruby’s at the center of the two girls, all of them obviously holding hands, and looking at Penny with an interested little smile. Weiss appears to be looking around in the most begrudgingly nervous fashion she’s ever seen. It’s like she knows that she looks nervous and hates every second of it. Yang decides to stop looking at her before she notices and hits her with a glare powerful enough to level a continent.

And, Blake? Well, Blake was leading them through the forest without a single fear at all. She’s not surprised. This is like Blake’s natural element. She keeps taking glances back to make sure everyone’s still following her as, much as she played it up earlier, she didn’t want anyone to fall behind or get lost. In the process of this, her eyes meet Yang’s… before they quickly turn away and she focuses her head back forward. Her ears flick and she just keeps moving ahead.

And, the Asshole of the Year Award goes to Yang Xiao Long.

* * *

They’ve been walking for a good amount of time when Weiss speaks up. “Blake, do you even know where you’re going? We’ve been walking for, like, thirty fucking minutes. You better not be getting us lost.” The girl says grumpily, glaring ahead at the faunus in question.

Blake turns around with a little smirk. “Oh? And, if I was?”

“I would shove that smirk so far up your ass you could kiss yourself.”

Blake laughs. “Fair enough. If I was ever dumb enough to get lost in this place, I wouldn’t blame you. But, we’re not lost. I know right where we are.”

The girl looks ahead and hums lightly, her tail swishing casually in the air. She gets a smile on her face and nods toward a rather thick bunch of trees. Just past them, there looks to be some sort of clearing. It’s kind of hard to tell from where they’re standing, but Blake seems enthused by it. “As a matter of fact, we’re here.”

The group comes to a stop and Blake looks to them with a subtle smile. “I hope you’re all ready for this, because I assure you.. this place is the real deal. Legitimate haunting. Whispers in the hallways, temperature spikes, moving furniture… the works. So, if that sounds like it’s going to be too much for you, you can wait right out here. No one’s going to judge you. We’ll be back.”

She looks around for any takers. There’s no replies, either because they want to go inside or because they don’t want to be just left out here in the forest. Blake grins. “Nice. Well, let’s go face our fears, then, shall we?”


	3. Chapter 3

With everyone set on going in, they step through that patch of trees and out into a clearing of sorts. The grass is a little taller here, some remnant of what used to be a quite expansive yard. And, it leads right up to the very house that Blake had been hyping up this whole time. And, the group as a whole can’t help but gasp at the sight of it. The breeze seemed to be working against them in a certain respect. As, right as it comes into full view, a chill runs down all their collective spines. It certainly made it feel like their bodies were having a natural rejection to the sight. And, it just served to make it all the more intimidating.

It really was surprising that no one had claimed it, to be honest. It was a large, fancy house with clear Gothic influences all over it. And, considering how unusual that was for their town, you’d think the rich folks would be tripping over themselves for the chance to own it. Sure, it wasn’t some sort of grandiose cathedral or anything, but it was still tall and impressive in it’s own right. And, it was only a _short_ thirty minute walk from the park, right?

It gets leaner the more you looked, ending in a tall spire that feels like it’s piercing right into the night sky. Below the spire had to be the creepy attic, which was a requirement to all spooky old houses. There are plenty of intricate details and arched windows, the moon reflecting off brightly designed stained glass. Ruby’s already marveling at the gargoyles she’s spotted at the sides of the house, looking down at them with judging eyes and cracked, stone visages. The gargoyles kind of sum up the majority of what’s wrong with this place. The disrepair.

This house clearly hadn’t been touched in a very long time.

For all of the fancy, and likely expensive, aspects to it, none of it has been maintained. Cracks fragment the tiles of the roof. The gorgeous stain glass windows have chunks missing, where the wind whistles and howls through them. Whatever paint was on the outside has long since peeled away from the elements, falling where they may on the ground. The porch and stairs leading up to the front door have big, gaping holes in some spots. They’d have to be careful walking around on it. Though, maybe the holes had more to do with the junk sitting on the porch than anything. It looks almost as if someone got halfway through either moving in or out and just left before it was finished.

It’s definitely spooky, but also almost… sad. A big, beautiful house just left forgotten in the woods to decay. If houses could speak, it looked like it had many tales it could tell.

Yang’s mouth quirks into something of a frown. “Kinda depressing.”

She hears movement next to her, Blake nodding slowly. “A venerable house, opulent and imperial… forgotten and left to rot where none can see.”

“You and your eloquent words.”

Blake only replies with a small smirk, then starts walking toward the porch. The movement of her tail naturally draws Yang’s eyes a little lower, only to snap back up and look completely forward. Damn it, why did Blake have to just _sashay_ everywhere?

To distract herself from pretty much shamelessly ogling her friend’s ass, she looks back at her sister. She’s still looking at the gargoyles with rapt attention. Weiss is, too, but both her arms have wrapped around one of Ruby’s and she doesn’t look to thrilled with how it’s looking down at her. She could swear Weiss was shivering. “Wow, Weiss, isn’t that cool? Look at all the detail in the sculpting! I bet, when it was brand new, it looked awesome!”

“Y-Yes, well. I… I don’t care for it.”

Ruby looks down from the stone being, noting the rather uncomfortable expression on her face, and leans in to give her a reassuring smooch on the cheek. She even nudges Penny, who had been leaning way back to look up at the top of the spire, and nods her head toward Weiss. Understanding immediately, Penny slips over to Weiss’ other side to also give her cheek a little kiss. Ruby smiles and gently nuzzles her girlfriend. “Aw, c’mon, Weiss! They’re not scary, they’re funny! And, they’re supposed to ward off bad spirits!”

“And, in the cathedrals they were known for inhabiting, they were simply grotesques with spouts installed to keep rain water from running down the masonry. It would ruin the mortar between the masonry and cause much damage! They did not want that! So, they're just really fancy rooftop gutters, I guess! Not sure these ones are, though… They might be more for decoration, but maybe-”

Weiss actually lets out something of a laugh at that. Especially since her girlfriends are trying so very hard to reassure her that everything was going to be just fine, especially Penny’s explanation about what they were actually used for. That allowed her brain to return to it’s more rational side. They were just fancy storm drains made of stone, what was there to be worried about? She leans over to peck a kiss against each of their cheeks. “Alright, alright, I get it. Nothing to be afraid of, there, I get it.”

Blake, who had previously been looking at the porch, glances over to the others with a smile. But, particularly over to the three. “You know, it’s pretty funny you should mention those gargoyles. They’re pretty nice, right? Almost…. Too nice. And, more than that, they’re incredibly expensive. Shouldn’t some rich socialite have snatched this place up in the blink of an eye? It should pretty much a rich person’s wet dream, right? So, why is it abandoned out here? Why was it left to fall apart out here? Out of sight and out of mind? Well, it was…”

Nora is immediately pointing her camera at Blake. “Ohhh, I’m guessing there’s story, here~? Come on, Blake, give us the goods!”

Blake snickers at Nora’s excitement. “Well, this place used to be really hot on the market, as you might expect. It was an old, gothic-style house in the area of OUR town. And, more importantly, it was expensive. What rich person wouldn’t go for it, even just to show off with the price tag alone?”

Weiss levels a glance at the old house. She frowns. “Honestly, I’m surprised my father didn’t try and grab it.”

“Well, perhaps he heard about the rumors that came out of it. The town’s got plenty of them, even though no one seems to remember it when it’s discussed. Every owner that has ever owned this has eventually started complaining about a constant feeling of being watched. A constant… sorrowful presence around them. A constant feeling that seemed to follow into every room and hang over them like an overwhelming shroud of sadness and anger. You know, along with the problems I mentioned earlier. Most people moved out not soon after moving in. If they even FINISHED moving in.”

Yang can’t help the small smile that comes to her face as she sees how into this Blake is getting. The shininess of her eyes, the smile on her face, her swishing, swaying tail… She was enjoying telling this tale quite a bit. And, if there was anything that Blake loved more than squeezing into places that she shouldn’t, it was telling a good story. She always got more excitable when doing so, more giddy and eager. Most people probably didn’t even know Blake could emote in this way. But, Yang was all too familiar with the fact that Blake had an eagerness for storytelling. To hear a good story and pass it on. She always ends up smiling and she can’t help the fact that she does now.

From true crime to urban legends, Blake had an immense amount of knowledge.

“So, this place came to hold a superstitious stigma, all but cursed to stand lonely in the forest. A forgotten wonder hidden away. Mm.. Was it forgotten, though? Or, does everyone just not want to remember it? What happened in the past to give it such a foreboding presence? I suppose we stand to find out this day, don’t we…?” Blake says, then beginning to step up to the porch with confident steps. The others follow along behind her, all with differing stages of concern. Yang brings up the rear, looking back at the forest as she steps through the tall, unkempt grass.

For some reason, the dark, creepy forest almost seems friendlier.

Now stepping up to the broad expanse of the porch, the blonde begins to take a look around. The junk on the porch seems to be a lot more numerous than when she was farther back. Old chairs, broken statues, a bunch of discarded gardening equipment, some boxes full of who knows what… Yes, she supposes that’s pretty much standard fare for a spooky house. Add a few creepy as fuck broken dolls in rocking chairs and you’d be all set. Well, at least it has a bunch of nasty looking old cobwebs hanging from the building. They sway in the breeze, moonlight filtering through them like old, thin sheets.

She wrinkles her nose. Those are the kinds of cobwebs that _crunch_ when you go through them.

Her eyes snap up from where she’d been looking when she hears a grunt and a loud creak. Blake’s had to push the door open with a large thrust from her shoulder. The blonde feels her heart flutter a bit more at the… rather strong display. Blake rubs her arm and pushes the door open further, stepping inside the house. “I… guess it’s not used to being opened, hm?”

“Ohhh, maybe it’s trying to keep us out! Like someone put a ghosty curse on it or something!”

“I don’t think that’s how it works, Nora.”

“Man, this place is creepy...”

“Penny, please stick close to us. I don’t want you tripping over anything.”

“Okay, Weiss~!”

They all step into what appears to be a large foyer. Much like the porch, there’s a bunch of boxes in random spots of the area. Like someone had been in the process of moving in and just disappeared halfway through. Beyond the large room, it splits off into several other rooms and hallways, as well as a flight of stairs that leads up further into the house. They can still hear the wind from outside, howling against the side of the structure.

And, then the door slams shut behind them loudly. Yang, herself, nearly jumps out of her skin. Weiss shrieks loudly. The wind continues to cause the house to creak and groan, because _that_ wasn’t unsettling or anything.

Nora, however, doesn’t seem phased by the creepy atmosphere or the slamming door and, instead, begins to zip eagerly around the foyer. Her pink boots clatter around the old, wood floors, causing the floors to creak in protest of the sudden and enthusiastic motions.”Sweeeeeeet~! This is _totally_ the creepiest place I’ve ever been before! Hey, Ren, who do you think would be standing in that doorway over there if we were in a horror movie? Hockey mask machete guy? Sweater-wearing burn victim? Dancing eldritch clooooown~?”

“Well-”

She suddenly spins around and looks at her friends with a grin. A friend grinning at you should be a nice experience, but the one that Nora is giving them is just downright suspicious. “Hehe~ Ya know what’s gotta happen, now, right~?” The ginger asks with a waggle of her eyebrows.

Jaune shifts uncomfortably and rubs the back of his neck. “...Why do I get the feeling like I’m not going to like this…?”

Ignoring him, she puts her hands on her hips and puffs her chest out proudly. She looks as though she was just struck with a particular chord of brilliance and can’t get over how awesome her idea is. Though, when it comes to Nora’s ‘brilliance’, it often meant that it was going to be the most crazy and illogical idea ever. Usually, something ended up getting smashed. Though, Yang would admit that her craziness made the parties she threw something pretty spectacular. “We gotta split up into teams! That way we can get the whole spooky, haunted house experience!”

Poor Jaune sighs and almost physically deflates as the idea is eagerly brought up. “Yeah… Knew I wasn’t going to like it...”

“Aw, c’mon guys, it’d be so cool! We’ll, like, split into groups and spread out around the house! We’ll investigate for, like, thirty minutes and then come back here to share our findings! If anyone find a ghost or a sign of hauntings in their area, we’ll all come back and focus on that area! It’s the perfect plan! And, so efficient!” Nora says enthusiastically, not even waiting for anyone to voice any disapproval before she starts giving points to her various friends.

“Let’s seeee… We’ll go by these teams! Me and Ren, ‘cus, OBVS. Jaune and Pyrrha...”

Yang feels herself stiffen lightly, feeling like she knows where Nora is going with this. Nora was obviously going to be pairing the couples together, as well best friends most likely. She knew just where this was going to end. And, she didn’t think she could handle that right now. With all the weirdness going on between them right now… Especially since she could barely stand to look at Blake without her face heating up or even talk more than a sentence without putting her foot in her mouth… This was probably the worst position she could be in. She winces and closes her eyes, face screwing up for the inevitable.

“Weiss and Yang.”

Wait, what?

Her eyes open back up with surprise. Had that really just happened? Could she really weasel her way out of trying to handle her feelings one more time? She almost smiles, despite how terrible that is. On one hand, she’s pretty much avoiding Blake like the plague save for a few small interactions. But, on the other, she can’t stand the idea of what she might do if left alone with Blake for too long. Her, alone with Blake and her unrestrained words? Not a good idea. She very nearly sighs in relief until…

“Excuse you.”

Yang’s eyes nearly bulge out of their sockets, looking around to see about the poutiest look on Weiss’ face. Weiss, no, wait…

“I may sometimes enjoy Yang’s company, yes. But, if I am going to be exploring a nasty, dusty, decrepit, and potentially visually intriguing location, I would much prefer to do it with my girlfriends. After all, they’re the only reason I even bothered to come in the first place. And, if Ruby’s going to be sketching and Penny’s going to be giving out interesting facts on the mold that is likely _infesting_ this place… I want to hear and see every single moment of that. Besides, in this group, I stand the chance of getting kisses. End of story.” She says as she defiantly crosses her arms, giving the blonde a vague glance. “No offense to you, of course, Yang.”

“N-None taken...” She replies, biting her lip once more. Well, that was pretty much her last shot. Just get a hold of yourself, Xiao Long, it’ll probably be fine.

“Fine, whatever, I just thought it’d be interesting! Don’t get all pouty! You three can go together. Guess that just leaves the besties to go together, then!” Nora replies, then begins pointing around in various directions. “Hmmm, okay! Me and Ren will check things out over there, Pyrrha and Jaune that way… Ruby, Weiss, and Penny? Look around for something that might lead into a basement! If there’s something creepy going on, fifty-fifty that it’s in the basement.”

“Why would you send _us_ down there, then-”

“And, Blake and Yang, you go upstairs!” She says, clapping her hands together with a grin. “So, everyone got their assignments?”

A reluctant sound goes through a few of them.

“Good! Let’s get going, then! C’mon, baby, let’s go find some spooks!” The ginger replies, giving a scarily witch-like cackle as she drags her boyfriend off to go ‘find some ectoplasm’. Ren doesn’t seem to have any arguments or statements about this, merely giving the group a wave as he disappears into the blackness of another room. To be honest, Nora’s enthusiasm could potentially be the scariest thing they had to deal with here.

Everyone’s silent for a moment.

“How long do you think we have before they start fucking?” Weiss asks with dulled eyes.

Pyrrha clears her throat. “Depending on how much this ghost stuff keeps her attention, possibly not long.”

“ _Wunderbar_.” Weiss mutters under her breath, rolling her eyes.

Jaune rubs the back of his neck. “Well, at least we know if we hear moaning, it’s not a ghost? Maybe.” He says, eyes suddenly darting around nervously. “Right?”

Pyrrha gently places a strong hand on his shoulder, smiling at him. “Relax. Everything will be fine.” She says, then shrugging at the rest of them. “Well, I suppose we might as well do it how Nora wanted. It’s only half an hour, anyway. We’ll all be back before we know it!”

Pyrrha and her optimism, she swears.

“Just be careful. I’m willing to bet not everything here is the most structurally sound.”

With that, she and Jaune set off into the blackness of another room. About the only thing that shows that they’re still around is the lights of phones and flashlights drifting out of the room as they move around. That just leaves the remaining five standing around in the foyer together, just sort of waiting for one another to go.

“Alright, Ruby, lead the way.” Weiss suddenly states.

“W-What? Why me!?”

“Because me and Penny and especially me are delicate flowers who need protecting. Plus, in a list of proper heights in ascending order, it would go thusly. You, me, then Penny. It’s only natural.” Weiss says simply, only to send a glare Blake’s way when the faunus laughs.

She’s leaning on the railing of the staircase and smirking at the girl. She’s completely casual about it, as she had been for the whole journey here. The environment of this place doesn’t seem to bother her at all. “Scared of a few spooks, after all, Weiss?

“N-No! There is _no_ such thing as ghosts, Blake. But, what if this place were the home of some sort of deranged meth addict? It could happen! Where would we be, then? The scariest thing you can face is reality!”

“W-What?! Then, why would you put me in front of you?!”

“B-Because, out of the three of us, you have the quickest and meanest right hook. Certainly not because I want to bring up neither the front or the rear. There is no such thing as ghosts, _Blake_.” She says with a growl, noticing that Blake is trying very hard to cover up her mouth with her hand. Even Yang is having trouble keeping it in, at this point. She can’t help it. A big laugh escapes, Blake losing control and letting out a snort along with her. “Ugh! You two are the worst! C-Come on, girls. We have… places of dubious dust quantity to ‘explore’.

They all clomp off to look for a basement to explore, leaving Yang to just stand around with Blake. Her laughter slowly starts to come to an end and she rubs the back of her neck. “So, um… guess it’s just us, then, huh?”

“Guess so. Just like old times, Yang.” Blake replies as her eyes flit up toward the stairs. Honestly, she can probably see up their a lot better than Yang, herself, can. Faunus, especially cat faunus in particular, have very good eyesight at night. Maybe that’s why she wasn’t particularly frightened by anything in here. She looks back down at Yang and a smile slips onto her face. Again, that silky, black hair frames the dark skin of her face. And, Yang can’t help but stare once more. She looks… gorgeous. Even in a dingy house. “Ladies, first.”

“Saying you’re not a lady?” Yang asks after letting out a small, calming breath to slow her suddenly hammering heart. This is what she needed to do. Just banter and talk normally. It was fine. It was normal. They were just two friends walking through a very old, possibly haunted house. Well, okay, maybe that wasn’t entirely ‘normal’, but it was a good thing for them. Letting herself focus on that makes her feel a little less nervous and she lets a bit of her snark out as a result. “Besides, if you’re trying to scare me, you’re gonna have to try a lot harder than _stairs_ , Belladonna.”

Blake saunters up behind her and gives a push to the back with her palm. “I always try my hardest, Yang. Now, get your ass moving before I make you move.”

“How would you do that?”

“I have plenty of ways.”

Well, didn’t _that_ just imply all sorts of things?

Her boots make every tentative step on the stairs creak and complain, as if her very weight might be too much for it to take. She doesn’t hear any snapping, though, so she decides to just keep up her careful stepping. She finally lets out a chuckle as she reaches the top of the stairs, walking out into a little hallway. Blake’s near-silent steps meet her as she turns around. “Sheesh, damn steps sure know how to make a girl feel heavy, huh?”

“Well, I doubt they’ve ever had such a tall, muscular girl on them before.” Blake comments as she fishes a small flashlight out of her sweatshirt pocket. Clicking it on just reveals more of the same sort of thing. Few boxes, dusty wood… and some awful, ugly rugs that should be a crime to own. Seriously, whoever sold those should be put to death on fashion crimes. “Looks like more of the same, down the hallway. Come on, maybe there’s something more interesting down there.”

“You know, I’m starting to think the scariest thing about this place is it’s fashion sense.”

“Oh, Coco would definitely want to burn this place to the ground for the rugs alone.”

“I’d pay to see that.”

The light from Blake’s flashlight drifts over various areas in the hallway, but none of it’s worth any particular merit or attention. It’s mostly just a lot of the same kind of stuff that they saw in the foyer. Looking through each individual box would just be pointless, especially if it was just a bunch of the things they saw on the porch. An amount of silence goes over them as they move through the house. About the only thing heard between them is the creaking of the floorboards and the sound of Yang’s boots. It’s not an… awkward silence, per say, but it definitely felt like one or both of them were on the verge of speaking up. Like they wanted to talk, but didn’t know how to start.

And, as the moments tick away, the inevitability of further conversation becomes more and more likely. So, Yang decides to try and get it off on the right foot. Just a normal conversation.

“Hey, Blake-”

“Yang-”

Yang looks to find that Blake had turned to look over her shoulder at the blonde, seeming equally surprised that Yang had spoken up. They stare at each other for a few moments before laughing quietly.

Blake always looks especially beautiful when she laughs. They were always soft and quiet, easily missed if you weren’t paying attention. There in an instant, gone in a flash. She’s very reserved when it comes to laughing. So much so that she could count the number of times that Blake has laughed out loud on one hand. Mostly because she couldn’t really count on the other one, but hey. The true laughs of Blake Belladonna were something that only a few of her good friends had seen. And, Yang was lucky enough to have been around or the cause of most of them.

Her smiles are more common, but mostly the same. Small and subtle until something that really makes her happy comes along, where it was easily the biggest, happiest smile that Yang had ever seen.

Blake shakes her head, turning around to fully face Yang as her cute laugh dies down. “You first.”

“Oh, uh… Well, I was prolly just gonna say a pun or something.” She admits lamely.

“Go for it.” Blake replies as she turns herself back around, starting to walk down the hallway again. She seems… glad to be talking again, even as they’re walking around and looking mostly at nothing. It makes her feel bad that they haven’t done so in a while. She supposes Blake doesn’t really have the kind of friendship she has with Yang with anyone else. She makes a mental note to try harder.

“Hmm… Lemmie think of an appropriate one.” She says as she taps her finger to her chin carefully. “Kay, I got one. What is a ghost’s favorite dinner?”

“Mm. I dunno, Yang, what _is_ a ghost’s favorite dinner?”

“ _Spook_ -ghetti, of course~”

“Ugh. Gods, that’s terrible.” Blake laughs, only for her ears to suddenly perk up and her steps to stop completely. Noting this, Yang moves to step around the girl to peek at what’s got her so interested. Her eyebrows quirk up at the sight, admitting that her own interest was peaked.

It was a door. The only door they’d come across in walking this entire hallway.

As Blake steps forward to jostle the knob, Yang tilts her head. “Huh. Well, that’s a weird place to put a door. How come the rest of the hallway didn’t have any…?”

“Dunno.. Hm. Wonder if there’s something inside.” Blake murmurs, frowning at the door’s refusal to open. “It’s locked. Who locks a door inside their own house? I bet only someone with something to hide would lock a door for no reason... Maybe I can pick it.”

“Blake Belladonna, delinquent extraordinaire.” Yang says with a little smirk, leaning herself on a wall as she watches Blake crouch down in front of the door handle. Not only does that give a rather… great view of her ass, she also pokes her tongue out in concentration. Might as well just add that to the list of many things, both adorable and cool, that make her so damn easy to fall in love with.

“You know me. Love getting into places I shouldn’t.”

“I know ya do. Honestly, I bet you could get into just about anywhere you wanted, huh?” She says, looking down to find Blake looking at her with a… smirk. And, her eyelids are slowly lowering. There’s something… about Blake’s expression that is making her face feel very, very hot. It’s like those eyes are embers, blazing right through into her soul.

There’s the sudden sound of a lock clicking.

Yang’s eyes leave her gaze only to look at the door but, in that single moment, Blake has stood and closed the distance between them. The blonde almost yelps when her eyes come back and find Blake right in her face. She’s looking at Yang curiously, eyes drifting over her face. She can feel a deep blush bubbling up to the surface and staining her cheeks. The closeness just takes everything she finds attractive about her friend’s face and multiplies it. What… Why is she so close? She’s too close!

Seemingly done with her observation, Blake leans back just the slightest bit. “For the record? Yeah. I could get into anywhere I wanted, Yang. All I need is the _motivation_.”

“O-Oh, r-really?” Yang manages to choke out.

“Yeah. See that door? Wide open.”

Yang looks past her to see that the old door has started to slowly creak open. “O-Oh. Wow. Yeah, um… t-totally open. Wide. Wide open, yeah. G-Good work.”

“Mhm.” Blake murmurs in confirmation, taking one last look over Yang’s face before moving back out of her personal space. She has a smile on her face as she does so, turning around toward the open door. “Now, how about we see what was hiding behind this big, bad door, shall we?”

Yang is only able to manage a slightly wheezy ‘okay’ at that.

Breath. Air is good. Yes.

Blake nods and moves into the room past the doorway as Yang tries to take a moment and get a hold of herself. She has pretty much no idea what the hell just happened there. That curious way Blake was looking at her… Like she was trying to find something in her face. What was that all about? And, that whole ‘motivation’ thing? And, that… look she gave her? Was that just a coincidence or was that something she could go off of?

She blinked. Did Blake know?

Did she have a chance? Was Blake… waiting for her to make a move? Or, was this just an excuse Yang was making for herself?

More importantly… Did Yang have the guts to take a chance?


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From here, the story starts to be pretty different from the original. Similar, but very different.
> 
> Also, thank you to Kuchenjaeger for correcting Weiss' German. ^^

“Yang, what are you still doing out there? Are you going to come and explore or do I have to come back out there and drag you inside?” Blake calls out from inside the new room, snapping the blonde out of her brief, though numerous, thoughts. Wow, she really needs to quit zoning out and focus, here. Not only on whatever… hints or not hints might be being dropped here, but on the fact that they were in a thoroughly unfamiliar place. While Weiss’ weird excuse of ‘meth addicts’ being an obvious stand-in for her seemingly quite broad fear of ghosts, it wasn’t a bad idea to keep your eye out.

It was an old place. And, if it was as old as it seemed, it was probably a little dangerous to walk in some places. As Pyrrha had said, ‘structurally unsound’. That probably meant very old and rotten floorboards in some places. Ones that meant you were going through the floor, if you were unlucky enough to put the right weight on them. And, she didn’t really feel like going through a floor today.

Shockingly, ‘getting put in the hospital again’ wasn’t really high on her bucket list. She imagines most people with common sense would be of a similar mind.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m comin’. Keep your pants on, girl.”

Or, off?

Shut up.

She steps past the doorway, having to duck her head down a little to fit into it properly. Blake is investigating a large, antique desk at the far end of the room. A cursory glance reveals the room to be some sort of bedroom. A large double bed with lavender sheets and silky drapes sits against the back wall, looking… actually rather comfortable. Well, comfortable, if you didn’t count the layer of dust coating the sheets and the general smell of being very old. “Huh… Well, I guess somebody had to live here at some point, right?”

“Mhm.” Blake mutters from the desk. She’s shifting through a couple papers sitting haphazardly on top of it, ears twitching and perking.

“Heh. You think, if we find skeletons, there will have been some… _boning_ going on~?”

Blake slowly turns her head around, flashlight shining under her face. It’d be terrifying if that little frown of hers wasn’t so cute. “Okay, I think I’ve reached the pun limit for today.”

“Blake, there’s no such thing as a pun limit, when I’m around.”

She sighs, shaking her head. Yang can swear she sees the… _ghost_ of a smile on the girl’s lips. “Yeah, I know. No harm trying, though, right?”

“So, what’d you find on the desk?” Yang asks, taking one last look at the bed before clomping over to where Blake is standing. She peeks curiously over her shoulder. “Anything interesting? Spooky pictures of little girls with way too much hair? _Ancient_ nudes from the former owners? Box of century-old Pumpkin Pete’s?”

Blake rolls her eyes and playfully swats the blonde’s arm with her tail. “Nothing quite so exciting, I’m afraid. It looks like a bunch of letters or… documents? I can’t tell. The writing is complete chickenscratch. Totally illegible. Maybe it was… something personal?”

“What, like their diary or something? Three guesses the first entry says something like ‘By Jove! Joanne flashed me a bit of _ankle_ , today! Mayhaps she's wearing only _three_ layers of clothing today~ How tantalizing and naughty~’. My heart’s all atwitter-”

Blake laughs, but forgoes the swat of her tail for a hard sock to the shoulder. “Behave.”

“I’ll try. You know my style of humor is spontaneity.” She replies, taking some of the papers up into her hand to investigate herself. Just as Blake had said, it was completely unreadable. It looked like the hasty scrawlings of a madman. Like the person who wrote them didn’t even know what they were writing at the time. She gives Blake a light nudge with her stump. “Shit, you weren’t kidding. This handwriting looks like ass. Looks like it was written, like, super quick or something? Wonder if it was important or just… Meh…? Maybe they’re house deeds or something.”

“Pretty sure deeds to a house would have to be neater than that, Yang.”

“Well, ya never know.” She says as she tosses the documents back down on the desk. Blake has already turned around to investigate more of the room while the blonde had been skimming the papers. She seems to have been drawn to a large bookshelf with wide, curious eyes. To Yang, it just looked much like a dust-choked shelf with… ancient, ancient books sitting neatly on it. Almost too neat, for how haphazard most of the rest of the house is.

Of course, Blake wastes no time in striding right up to the bookshelf. Her fingers gently drift along the spines and a slow smile comes to her lips. And, what a pretty smile it is. Shit. Why did she have to have such a gorgeous smile right now? Not that her normal smiles weren’t incredibly beautiful, but the one she has on now is just… reflecting her curiosity and desire for knowledge. It is the most Blake smile that she’d ever seen.

This place was right up her alley. Now, it was probably less of a haunted house and more of a library that Blake was going to steal all the books from.

“Check out this bookshelf...” The girl nearly purrs, turning around to grin at Yang.

“Nah, I don’t think I need to. You’re almost on second base with it.” She says as she walks up to the bookshelf, earning a punch in the shoulder and a laugh from the faunus.

“Shut up, you asshole.”

“Hey, if you’re booksexual, that’s fine. No judging from me.”

She feels comfortable with this. Maybe it’s the way their banter has always flowed so easily between them. Maybe it’s the fact that Blake… might be interested? Or, maybe she just forgot how much fun it was to be around the girl. Either way, through this slew of emotions she has, she finds that she’s… really enjoying herself.

Blake rolls her eyes as her fingers brush the dust off the book’s spines, smirking. “Well, there’s nothing wrong with a good smut story and a night to yourself.”

“Ummm, t-too much info there, Blake.”

“Too much info? Or, not enough- Hm?” Blake starts to say, Yang able to _feel_ her smirk broaden. But, the intrigued sound that comes from her lips interrupts what she was about to say. A particular book that Blake had been interested enough in to pull out had made a loud ‘click’ sound as she’d done so. She pulls it all the way out and blinks at the shelf as it starts to move slowly sideways. She steps back and watches it open up.

They both wince a bit as it scrapes across the floor, Blake’s kitty ears nearly flattening to her head in response. By the time it’s finished, it has revealed a set of upward steps. It’s nearly pitch black inside this strange, secret passage they’ve stumbled upon. But, a cursory glance with the flashlight reveals that the steps appear to be made of solid stone. They’re caked with a layer of thick dust; the flat parts are rife with large cracks and signs of obvious wear. Blake points her flashlight up the path, but it seems to go on long enough to not have anything to reflect the light off of.

They both stare in silence for a moment. Yang is the first one to talk.

“You’ve gotta be shitting me.”

“No kidding.”

“What are we in, Scooby Doo? What kind of house has a fuckin’ _sliding fake bookcase_?”

“I don’t know...” Blake says, though slowly starts turning toward Yang. Her amber eyes hold a wild, excited air about them, something very familiar when they used to explore around. Her voice comes out hushed and excited. Her ears perk back up and her tail swishes back and forth. “Want to see where it goes?”

Yang bites her lip.

“...Like I’m gonna be able to say no to that face.” She mutters. She puts her hand on her hip and takes one last look up into what the flashlight’s able to illuminate. It’s not much. Most of what’s ahead of them is just pitch blackness. Anyone with common sense probably wouldn’t do this. But, then again, when had Yang Xiao Long ever had any sense in the first place? “Sure, let’s walk up the creepy steps behind a secret bookcase in abandoned house in the middle of a forest. Don’t see how that could go wrong in the slightest. See what sort of weirdo goodies we can find. I’m guessing… animal skulls arranged on a pentagram?”

“Who knows? That’s what makes it exciting~” Blake grins, immediately moving up the stairs and giving… Well, a rather spectacular view of her ass. For being a rather lithe girl, Blake had some _hips_. Yang has to shake herself out of that and follow the rapidly disappearing light source. Didn’t want to get left behind here, of all places. Just… focus on something else.

Like her legs. Or that cute tail.

Shit.

“Alright, but if I see any stick figures attached to the wall, I’m outta here.”

“Noted.”

She thinks back to what Blake had started saying when she was looking over the books. Obviously, she had been teasing in a very Blake way. But, once again, it seemed obvious that she was showing her interest. But, she’s never explicitly said anything about the two… going out… or getting romantic. Was she waiting for Yang? Did she just like seeing the blonde squirm? She has a feeling they’re going to have… a lot to talk about after this whole adventure.

Yeah, that’s it. After this, she’s going to tell her how she feels! She’s-

“Wah!” The blonde yells out as she suddenly slips forward on one of the stairs. With no railing and only one hand to brace herself, it looked like she was going to get a nasty smack on the stairs with at least part of her head. She closes her eyes and curls up, bracing for it… only to find her body pressed against something warm. Her eyes peek open.

Blake smiles back at her, the flashlight illuminating her face warmly. Her eyelids lower gently, thick lashes sweeping down. She somehow managed to move back down the stairs and catch her before she fell all the way forward. Of course, that now meant her chin was square on her chest and- “Careful. The dust is making the stone a bit slippery.”

Damn it, she can feel her face. It’s absolutely on fire.

“K-Kay.”

Blake releases a content hum, then helps the blonde stand up fully. “Let’s keep moving. You okay?”

“Peachy.” She wheezes as she braces herself on the wall with her good arm. Blake looks her up and down for a moment before seemingly deciding she’s alright. She starts walking up again, albeit a bit slower so Yang can keep up. The blonde makes sure to be careful with her feet placement to avoid a repeat of moments ago. When she gets a good rhythm going, she starts to look up again. Cobwebs litter this part of the stony staircase. They stretch from wall to wall and drift down where they’re walking, littering the area. Blake breaks them up with swishes of her hands or her flashlight.

The way behind them is continually swallowed up by blackness. It leaves little other option than to keep going forward. Their steps echo loudly in the small stairway and continue on for what seems like forever. It makes Yang wonder just how high these things go up. Sure, the house was pretty tall, but was it… this tall? It didn’t feel like it. Needing to take her mind of both this confusing idea in her head _and_ Blake’s backside _AND_ the what just happened, she decides some small talk is order.

“So. How do you think Weiss is handling this?”

“Hm. Well, based on how hesitant she was to come inside, I would say that she’s probably flinching at every creak and groan the house makes. Probably not exploring as much as just counting down the minutes until she can leave. Maybe jumping into Penny or Ruby’s arms.”

“Heh. Cuties.”

“You think? You know… I seem to remember you saying that you were going to be the big, stern sister with anyone who tried to date Ruby.”

“Psh. Yeah, but that’s too hard to do. And, also? Have you seen them? And, how happy they make each other? Who would mess with that? Anyway, they’re really good for each other. If anything, I’m kinda jealous.”

“Oh?”

“They got together and made it work, despite everything. Considering how much each of them are so different. And, how they just… love each other. I kinda-”

“I’m sure you’ll find someone, Yang. Love can surprise you. Who knows? Might even be… closer than you think. Never know.” Blake says, voice growing just a little quieter with the last part. Before Yang can say anything to this very eye-opening piece of information, Blake stops dead. The blonde raises her eyebrow and peeks past Blake to where her flashlight is pointing.

“No way.”

Right in front of them is a completely solid wall.

Blake drifts her flashlight over it, finding no sort of obvious switch or handle. Yang scoffs incredulously. “Are you serious? All that pomp and circumstance just leads to… a wall? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“...Maybe it’s like the bookshelf? Perhaps it has a hidden switch or...”

“Maybe the people who owned this place just liked hanging out in staircases. Could be cool, I guess. I mean, if you’re the type of person who likes dust and cobwebs in your hair. I ain’t judging.” Yang replies, brushing a cobweb of her own out her hair with a slightly annoyed twitch of her eye. “Okay, I lied, I’m super judging and who the hell would want to do that?”

“Hush.” Blake says with a chuckle, turning to Yang. “Here, hold the flashlight, would you?”

“Gotcha.”

As the flashlight is handed back, the girl tries to keep up with Blake’s hands as she starts scouring the wall for something to help them out. A switch disguised as a protrusion. A hidden handle. Something. Anything that wouldn’t make them have to go back those stairs empty-handed. Yang sighs after a few minutes of this and leans her shoulder on the wall casually.

“Y’know, I think the architects just made this to fuck with- Guh!” She yelps, her shoulder suddenly pushing into a section of the wall. As it sinks in, the wall in front of Blake groans and starts to slide to the side like the bookcase did. The faunus whips around to look at Yang, who’s staring wide-eyed at what’s just happened.

“Yang! You did it!”

“Heh, yeah… Um… Totally meant to do that. Sure.” The girl says, then presses her lips together as the wall continues sliding. “There… had better be something cooler in here than more ugly rugs. Or, I’m gonna cry.”

“Could be their beloved ugly rug collection. The hidden nature of it was just to hide their shame.”

As the wall finishes it’s motion to the side, Blake peeks her head into the room that it’s revealed just past it. They’re only granted the sight of more cobwebs and darkness as Yang shines her light around. Blake squints, seeming to be able to make out that this is a rather large room with lots of… things in it. That’s more than Yang can tell without a flashlight. The two step tentatively into the room. And, Yang would be lying if she said that each creak of the floorboards and groan of the house didn’t set the hairs on the back of her neck on end. It felt like they weren’t supposed to be in here.

Not that she was going to let a silly feeling of apprehension scare her off, but still. It was something to take into consideration.

As they step further inside, the light helps shine in on the vague shapes that Blake could make out. Blake immediately lets out a gasp. It’s just… books. Shelves and shelves of books all over the room. Some weren’t even on shelves, relegated to stacking themselves into piles on the floor. Poor Blake doesn’t seem to know where to go first. As, her feet start pattering around the room, taking her from pile to pile to shelf. “Yang! Look at all these! And no one even knows they’re here...”

“Well, they did think this place was haunted, right?”

“Likely left before they could explore fully, I would imagine. At least, that’s how the history goes. It’s just a shame. All these books just abandoned in an old… secret room?”

“Dunno what to tell ya. Guess that’s just how it… Whoa...” Yang murmurs, her flashlight having come upon a rather… enormous oil painting that’s hanging on the wall.

It’s a family.

A man and a woman with four children.

They’re dressed rather fancily, as one would expect from an old-timey painting. Lots of ruffles and detailing on their clothing. The man has darker skin and grey hair, despite looking rather young. His clothing has a lot of green and gold accents and his smile is a friendly one. Sort of reminds her of that soft look her dad gets when in remembrance of them as kids. The kids are pretty cute, too, dressed all fancy and beaming at whoever painted this. Lots of bows and braids and the like. Pretty much the works for rich kids.

The woman, however…

The woman is dressed in purple, though something makes it look darker than that. If she looks a certain way, it almost looks black in color. The same is true of her skin. It’s pale, yes, but when looked at from a certain point of view it almost becomes sickly so. Her blonde hair is done up nicely, a much more muted color than the golden locks Yang has, herself. Her pale blue eyes are on the border between motherly and piercing. And, Yang’s not quite sure she likes the feeling that this woman is judging her through a painting. Looking right through her and into her soul. If the hairs on her neck weren’t already on end, they certainly are at the maximum level of raised now.

“Wonder who these guys are.”

“Could be the previous owners. Maybe even the original owners, based on the state of this place. The woman, especially, seems to have an… importance about her.” Blake murmurs as she flips through one of the books in the current pile she’s investigating. “Perhaps this was a secret library she relaxed in. Maybe it’s a hiding place. Or, somewhere… private. What I do know is that no one has been up here for a very long time. I mean, the dust could tell you that, but these books… They’re _old_ , Yang. This stuff is historical. Much of it is fairy tales and occult writings… Books about old magic and, and… and nobody knows about it!”

This creepy shit was _definitely_ Blake’s thing. Yang won’t admit aloud that reading up on occult shit didn’t sound like her cup of tea, especially when Blake seems so interested in all this.

“Well, I mean… that’s not completely true.”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“Well, we know about ‘em. And, since no one really owns this place or even wants it, how about we come back sometime? We could take the books over to your house. Then, you can decide what you wanna do with ‘em. Donate ‘em or… add them to that big book collection of yours. I’ll even help you carry ‘em out. How’s that sound-”

She’s interrupted by the feeling of Blake rising up and immediately wrapping her in a tight, excited hug. “You would do that?”

Her voice catches in her chest, words backing up into some sort of blob in her throat. Especially when Blake’s all hugging up against her like this. “O-Of course… What… What are friends for?”

“Friends?” Blake murmurs softly. It’s only then that she realizes how close Blake is to her. They’re hugging, yes, but Blake seems to have leaned up slightly in the time it took Yang to get her words out. It’s like when she slipped on the stairs, but much more intense. It’s not like Blake’s expression is helping any, either. Amber eyes are focused on lilac like they’re the only things in this room. Her eyelids are lowered once more, lips just gently parted. Her arm somehow comes to rest on the faunus’ waist.

It’s not until she can feel Blake’s breath gently brushing her own lips that she realizes that she’s been tilting her head down to meet her. Almost subconsciously. Like her body knows how much she wants to kiss Blake right now. And, judging by the look that Blake’s giving her, she doesn’t seem to be opposed at all. This becomes especially apparent when Blake’s lips softly brush against hers, Yang’s eyes going wide before nearly closing as Blake whispers. “Is that what you want to be?”

“B-Blake...” The blonde mumbles in response, her own lips just starting to brush in response…

When a terrified scream pierces the silence of the house.

The sudden, loud sound makes them both jump out of each other’s arms. They both pretty much scream in response, looking around wildly for the source. Two emotions immediately buzz through Yang’s body. Fear and disappointment. Fear on the subject of what that scream was and where on earth it came from. And, disappointment on… Well, the missed opportunity to kiss the girl she’s been crushing hard on for months. She had been so, so close to pulling the trigger on this!

Yang looks quickly to Blake, who appears to be beating down a flush on her dark cheeks in order to focus. Her ears twitch in the air. The blonde bites her bottom lip, worrying it between her teeth. “Um… Who… Who was that?”

Blake clears her throat. “I… The inflection sounded… like Weiss.”

“Weiss?” Yang questions, then narrows her eyes a little bit. Weiss was with Ruby, so that definitely had reason to cause Yang concern. Especially since Weiss was at her most comfortable around Ruby and Penny. “She sounded terrified, you don’t think…?”

“...We’d better go check to make sure she’s alright.”

Yang nods, starting toward the door to exit the room. Though, she turns around when she doesn’t hear Blake immediately follow behind her. Amber eyes meet lilac once more. Blake’s expression almost seems to be one of… frustration. “Yang.”

“Hm?”

“We have a lot I think we need to talk about. But, later. My place?”

She blushes a little and nods again. “...Feels like it. I’ll be there.”

With that, there’s no more conversation on their quick journey back down through the house. It takes a less time than their tentative journey all the way up, but feels more… awkward. There’s no witty banter between the two for a good while. Between the terrified nature of Weiss’ scream and the teetering edge into something unknown in their relationship, there’s not really a whole lot to talk about.

By the time they reach the stairs in the lobby, they can already hear loud voices and see the lights of the girls’ flashlights. She can tell the voices apart, one being an almost hysterical Weiss and the other being a very concerned Ruby.

“ _Sie hat sich auf mich gestürzt_! _Die blasse Frau_!”

“W-Weiss, calm down! A-Are you sure? Maybe it was just-”

“Ruby Rose, if you are telling me I _imagined_ that, I am going to be very upset!”

She can hear Penny cut in, calmly trying to help. “In… the highly alert state you were in from Blake’s stories… Perhaps you were influenced by them? The human mind often sees what it believes is there in the dark… And, you did say you were tired, earlier. Perhaps the mixture-”

“Penny, not you, too! I-I swear I saw it!” Weiss insists, nearly choking out her words through tears that are starting to bubble in her eyes.

Yang and Blake make it to the bottom of the stairs, surveying the scene as the blonde speaks up. “You guys okay? We heard a scream-”

Ruby is biting her lip and playing with her hoodie strings nervously. “Yeah, we’re… okay-ish. Weiss said she saw a, um...”

“ _E_ _inen Geist_!” Weiss says loudly, cutting Ruby off completely before continuing in a wave of frantic, flustered German that seems to make her more and more upset. Yang has to wince at that. Weiss, for the most part, had picked up the English language with ease. Hell, she’d say that Weiss held a better grasp of the English language than most people who spoke it natively. There were only a couple instances where she’d slip back into her native tongue. Speaking with her sister (Yang assumed this meant her whole family, as well), when she was angry, when she was aroused (don’t ask how she knows that), and when she was freaked out.

And, based on the tone of her voice, Weiss was clearly freaking the fuck out.

She has no idea what the alabaster girl is saying, but she looks like she’s about to burst into open sobs any second. Yang looks worriedly to Ruby for clarification. The redhead bites her lip in response. “I, um… She’s speaking kinda fast, but um… She said she saw a ghost. And, it, um… It lunged at her. It was a pale… pale woman?”

Yang and Blake exchange glances briefly as Penny and Ruby quickly move to hug the other girl close. Ruby looks to the two seriously. “I hate to say this, but we should get everyone out of here. I don’t really know what happened, but… I’m not gonna make Weiss stay here. Not like this. This isn’t fun.”

“Agreed.” Blake murmurs from the blonde’s side, though she can barely hear her. Blake seems… shocked by the level that this is affecting Weiss. “Let’s go find the others, Yang. Ruby, Penny… get her on the porch or something. Just… out of here. We’ll be right back.”

Penny and Ruby nod, then carefully lead the other girl toward the door. Both are murmuring softly to her, which seems to help start to calm her down. Blake puts her hood up over her head, Yang briefly able to see how troubled she is before her face becomes hidden by the hood. “If I had known this was going to happen, I wouldn’t have suggested we come here. I… thought it would be fun...”

Yang’s hand gently touches to the girl’s shoulder and squeezes. “Hey… You didn’t know. It’s probably just all the spooky stuff getting to her head.”

“I guess.” Blake mutters. “I’ll have to make it up to her, somehow. I just wanted to creep her out, not fucking traumatize her.”

Yang frowns, glancing to the main doors as they shut behind the leaving trio. “Let’s… find the others, okay?”

“Alright.”


	5. Chapter 5

She hopes Blake doesn’t blame herself too awful badly. She couldn’t have known that this was going to upset Weiss to such a degree. She’d played up the spookiness to maybe get a shriek out of her when a floorboard creaked. Cackled evilly to maybe get her to roll her eyes and insist that none of this was real AND she was an idiot. But, to see her on the edge of tears, looking on the verge of having a panic attack… Well, Blake’s current silence displayed plenty about what she felt about that.

Yang shines her flashlight into another room, keeping her eyes peeled for another blonde head. Or, a ginger. Or, just… anybody. They were supposed to be investigating this floor, weren’t they? How had they not come across them, already? She sighs. “They’re not in here, either.”

“We were up there a while. Probably gave them enough time to get pretty deep in this downstairs area. It’s a big enough house, but they have to be somewhere. Just keep looking.” Blake murmurs.

“...Yeah...”

She’s not sure how she feels about Weiss’ freakout, herself. Because, to be honest… she could believe someone could work themselves up in this place. There were several times up in that secret room that she felt like she wasn’t supposed to be there. Like something was watching her as she tromped around. It’s enough to put anyone on edge in response. And, now that she’s coming down from the book discoveries and nearly-kissing-Blake opportunities, she’s back to kind of feeling that way.

Every creaking step on the floor sounded like a groan of unrest. A corpse violently shook back to life.

She lets out a sigh.

She really regrets all those damn late-night spooky shows she’s blearily watched at two in the morning, now. Because each one of them is poking at her brain right now.

Remember that episode of Ghostly Survivors? You know, the one where the poltergeist slashed deep into that girl’s flesh and left horrifying welts on her body? Right there!

How about that story of the murderer who would drug his victims and cut off their heads while they were barely conscious? Comin’ right up!

And, who could forget the one where the malevolent presence would stand just out of the prey’s line of sight and just _watch_ them? Where would we be, if we didn’t have _that_ image in our head?

She frowns and sighs again, eyes glancing nervously off every dark corner her flashlight doesn’t cover. Seriously, _fuck_ her need to lay around on the couch and watch a parade of things that were going to make her paranoid. When she gets home, she’s making it a resolution to never watch any of that shit ever again. If only she could punch the shit out of her paranoia. Hell, being able to punch a lot of her emotions would help her an awful lot more in life. But, she can’t. So, being on edge it is.

It certainly didn’t help that Weiss’ words were still buzzing around in her head like a bunch of angry bees. She hadn’t understood a word of it, because she… surprisingly hasn’t picked up any German despite having a girl who was literally BORN there dating her sister. But, Ruby’s translation had been enough.

A pale woman.

Her mind wanders back to the painting. That accusing stare of the woman. Her sickly pale skin and…

Yang shudders. She doesn’t want to think about that right now. It had to be a coincidence. Had to be. Plenty of ghost stories had pale people as ghosts. That was part of the eeriness, right? It was a universal thing. Just because Weiss says she saw a pale woman, doesn’t mean it has anything to do with… anything. She’s thinking too hard. Seriously, fuck ghost stories and everything that looks like them, right now.

Blake seems to notice Yang’s current mindset, as her voice soon comes calmly out as they search the next room. “This place sure brings out every creepy thing you’ve ever read or seen, doesn’t it?” She asks quietly. Yang’s glad for the distraction from her overactive mind, zeroing in on the conversation with Blake instead.

“Amazing. You’re a delinquent _and_ a mindreader. That what you are, now?”

“Maybe. It’d be a fun thing. Maybe I could see what you’re thinking right now.”

Blake being able to poke around in her head at any given time didn’t really sound like a very fun idea. Especially considering all the things that end up in her mind. She’s a red-blooded woman, after all. One with a very obvious interest in the one who would be reading her mind. She snorts. “Blake, you wouldn’t want to see what’s going on in _my_ head.”

The faunus’ voice dips down to a soft purr. “Maybe I do. I bet I’d find all sorts of interesting things in there.”

Well, if Blake WAS a mindreader, she’d know that her voice had spurned all sorts of inappropriate things to start running wild in her brain. Well, at least she wasn’t thinking about scary shit, anymore. She’s not really sure whether that’s a trade-off or not. Especially when Blake seems to notice how her blush is creeping up her face. She quickly changes the subject. “You’re, ah… You’re right, though. This place does feel like something I’d watch in one of those ghost shows. Only difference is, I’m usually in shorts and munching on a bag of chips when I see ‘em.”

“Ah, yes, the famous shorts.”

“Wha… famous?”

“Well, famous among our friends, anyway. Not as famous as your wrestling suit, but still.”

The blonde chokes out a laugh and brushes her hair behind her ear, blush darkening. “Well, that only got famous because Nora started telling everyone that my ‘tits were making a valiant effort to escape that snug prison’. That girl, I swear.”

Blake watches her for a moment. And, Yang could swear she sees Blake blush just a touch. But, it’s too hard to tell in this darkness. And, shining a flashlight in her face just to check seems very inconsiderate. “Mhm. No kidding.”

Yang looks up as she hears the sound of footsteps creaking in the next room. She and Blake share a glance before rushing forward, opening the door to the next room and looking inside. They are relieved to see that it’s a pair they know, a familiar ginger that has Blake mumbling ‘Speak of the devil’ with a small smile.

Nora is investigating what looks to be an old fireplace. She’s got her camera all over it, talking aloud as she does. She’s probably doing it for footage to show on the video version of her and Ren’s podcast. It’s kind of cute, how into it she gets. For someone as destructive as Nora, she’s remarkably good at keeping her little camera steady. “And, here’s the next room. Fireplace. Though, something tells me this place hasn’t warmed any tootsies in a looong time. Unless their spiders. LOTS of those around here. And, ironically… it feels like another cold spot! Ren, do you feel cold?”

Yang glances to Ren, who’s just observing her silently. She finds that he looks… deep in thought. A slight quirk to his eyebrow, like he’s trying to read into something he doesn’t understand. He’s not a very expressive guy, so that makes the times when he is all the more telling of what he’s feeling. His voice is calm, with an underlying tinge of something akin to curiosity. “...Yes.”

Nora pops up to look at her partner, lips pressing together as she looks him up and down. She looks on the verge of asking him what he’s got for her. Then, she notices Yang and Blake for the first time. She gives them a wave and a smile, though her eyes keep flicking distractedly back to her boyfriend. “Hey, you two! How goes the hunting?”

Yang puts her hand on her hip and gives her head a small shake. “Not great. Weiss is… kind of having a bit of a panic attack on the porch. So, we’re probably gonna have to call it quits, tonight. Get her out of here and someplace where she can calm down. Er… Or, at least have six friends and two girlfriends walk her back through that forest.”

Blake winces.

Nora takes a step forward, her face clashing between concern and interest. “What happened? Is she okay? Did she… see something? Or, is she nervous? How nervous? Is it jumpy like earlier or, like… more than just jumpy?” She asks, each question coming right after another in quick succession. “Golly, do ya think this place really IS haunted? I mean, I know me and Ren have had the temperature drop real low a couple times. And, I heard footsteps in the dining room back there. Kinda feel like I’m being watched a little? And, a scream, even though I thought it was Jaune-”

“That was Weiss.”

“It _could_ have been Jaune.”

“Fair.”

Nora glances to her boyfriend as he comes up closer to them. “This place is… strange. The energies feels almost… sorrowful. There is history here. Something to share. I feel as though there is still much we could learn from this place, given more time.” He murmurs, voice quiet and interested. “I’ll admit, it’s a feeling I didn’t expect. I thought you were making it up as you went along.”

Blake shrugs. “Honestly, I thought I was. All I really know is the history I read on it and the fact that it’s been abandoned for a very long time. I guess… I guess it really could be haunted, but… That’s not the point, right now. The point is that this was supposed to be a fun, spooky romp through an abandoned, creepy house and it’s turned into something that’s causing Weiss genuine distress. We’re getting out of here.”

Nora nods, more of the concern for her friend taking over her features than interest in the odd goings-on of this place. Nora may be a little crazy and much too excitable at some points, but she wasn’t one to want anyone to be hurt just to sate an interest. She nods her head quickly. “Yeah. Yeah! No problem, guys. How… How about we all go out to the cafe downtown for some doughnuts or something? A pretty tame thing to round out the Halloween night. Pretty sure they’re doing little pumpkin-shaped ones, too, so we can keep a theme going. And, they have coffee! So, that’ll get Weiss happy.”

She pauses, biting her lip. “Ren has a point, though. I do wanna come back, sometime. Maybe… Weiss-less, next time?”

Blake gives a little nod and a smile. “Me and Yang found an enormous stash of old books upstairs. So, a return trip is definitely planned… sometime. Don’t worry, we’ll be sure to bring you guys along. Feel like numbers would be better coming inside, anyway.”

Ren’s eyebrows raise up in interest. He looks to be about to ask what kinds of books they found when Nora makes a gagging sound. “Blegh. Not just books, but _old_ books. And, old books stink!”

Blake’s ears twitch. “Old books… smell lovely."

“Anyway,” Yang interrupts, not particularly wanting to get into a debate like this when they’re in the middle of leaving. “Have either of you seen Pyrrha and Jaune?”

“You called?”

She glances over as she hears Pyrrha’s voice and spots the very two she spoke of walking in through another door to the room. She’s amused that the redhead has to duck in order to get through the doorway, Jaune more or less having taken up residence behind her. It looks like he hasn’t enjoyed himself particularly well, either. And, he keeps taking glances back toward the darker corners of the room. He looks about three seconds away from screaming, himself, honestly. Pyrrha presses her lips together tightly and looks between the two groups. “We heard someone scream and figured we’d better make our way back. I, um… Did something happen? Please tell me that no one fell through the floor.”

Ah, so that was why Jaune was on edge.

“Weiss isn’t doing so hot in here. So, we’re going to head out now. Try and calm her down.”

Pyrrha nods immediately, ever the kind soul, with Jaune looking to be pretty relieved to be getting out of here as well. “Of course. To be honest, we weren’t really finding anything of note, anyway. Aside from dust and, erm… cobwebs. Perhaps we should make haste? I would feel awful if Weiss had to linger here any longer than necessary.”

They all nod and start making their way back to the foyer, the collective sounds of their footsteps touching to the creaky wood ringing out in the otherwise silent space. The way back to the entrance is looking like it’s going to be just as creepy and off-putting as the way forward. The shadows that play off the objects that the light of their flashlights hit seem to shift around in a strange, organic manner. Almost as if the very shadows themselves are alive and fleeing the light to lurk in the dark corners their eyes keep flicking cautiously to. You’d think that having many more people around you than before would make a person feel more comfortable about themselves. Whoever said ‘strength in numbers’ was a fucking idiot.

Yang more or less decides right there that, the next time they visit this place, it was going to be in broad daylight. Right now, though, she just wants to get out.

The others seem to be thinking much the same thing, as they end up in the foyer much quicker than expected. The creepiness of the house had started to _really_ settle in for all of them. It was as if chilly hands had wrapped themselves right around their spines; as if cold lips had whispered potential horrors into their ears. And, they all collectively wish that the many, many ‘group horror movie’ nights they’d attended over the years weren’t springing back into their minds right now. It seemed to be a recurring theme, at this point.

And, Yang was finding herself much more in the mood for a silly pumpkin-shaped doughnut than sticking around in a house who’s floors could probably give out with any step they take. She’s pretty sure that opinion is seconded amongst them all.

Ruby, Penny, and Weiss are huddled just off the porch as they step out the front door. Weiss seems to have majorly calmed down since she last saw her, likely Ruby and Penny’s doing, but she still looks nervous and uncomfortable. It has to be pretty telling that she’s inching more toward the darkened forest than the house. She brightens, however, when she sees everyone made it out safely and offers them all a small smile.

Yang offers one right back to her. “We got everyone, Weiss, don’t worry. Now, let’s get outta here.”

It doesn’t take long at all for Weiss to immediately be heading across the yard and straight toward the forest. She’s clearly very ready to leave this place and not think about this experience ever again. Everyone follows along and Yang is sure to shut the door behind her as she steps off the porch. She takes a slow glance back to the house as she does so.

Guess the house scared off another set of people, for now.

In her casual look over the house, she sees something that makes her stomach drop. Up in the window, high and closer to one of the spires, she sees a woman staring down at her. The woman from the picture. It was unmistakable, who it was. Her pale skin, her white hair, that inky black dress… She’s looking right at Yang, eyes tinged with red and a mournful expression on her face. Her hand slowly raises up and presses to the window, lips forming words that the blonde can’t interpret from this distance.

She blinks and rubs her eyes, the woman gone by the time that she gets them back open. Conveniently, it leaves her unsure whether she just saw that or not. Was her head playing tricks on her? Weiss’ insistence of a ghost lunging at her? Just the general vibe of the house? She wasn’t sure. And, she’s not sure she wants an answer to that question. So, she does as she does with all her problems and shoves them as far back into her head as she can. Probably not the best solution, since she’s got enough back there, already, but… It is what it is.

Maybe, next year, they’ll just smash pumpkins.

* * *

As they walk through the forest on the return trip home, they fall into random discussion. It’s better than just staying silent. Nora still wants her to come record for their podcast tomorrow, even though she doesn’t really know what the movie they’re talking about is. She’s not even really sure what Nora and Ren’s podcast is _about_ , let alone how she could successfully record for one. The ginger just waves her hand dismissively. “It’ll be fine, we’ll watch it with you. Then, we can have a fresher perspective on it! Maybe at the end we can talk about other stuff, too. I talk about wrestling, sometimes, so maybe we can end on that. Ohh! Maybe we can put on a demonstration. Bring your suit just in case.”

Yang looks at her with dulled eyes. “How would that translate to the audio only people?”

Nora holds up a finger. “I- Shit. Ren?”

“How about we just stick to talking about it? Much less apt to break expensive equipment.” Ren suggests. Probably a good idea he does, because Yang and Nora were very competitive with each other. Nora looks dismayed at the missed opportunity to suplex somebody, but gets over it enough to start talking about things like lighting and audio on their new microphones. And, Yang sees herself out of the conversation.

Conversation with Nora done, she can’t help but look Blake’s way again. She’s leading them back through the forest, fuzzy ears high on her head and alert for any sounds. She knew they had a lot of things to talk about. They had been all but kissing each other before Weiss’ scream had interrupted. Blake was showing a definite interest and seemed to be making more and more comments suggesting that. She obviously wasn’t just making hopeful observations, anymore. Brushing your lips against your best friend’s isn’t a coincidence. So, she shouldn’t be so worried, right?

Yeah. Right. Just keep thinking those kinds of thoughts and maybe it’ll all turn out okay.

All she had to do was get to Blake’s place without saying something stupid. She could do that, right?

As Oum Park comes into view in the distance, the discussions turn to the cafe they’re going to be going to. Yang finds herself sidling up next to Blake, casually listening in as Weiss speaks to Ruby. “I am going to go in there and order the biggest cup of coffee they have, damn the consequences.” She says, squinting at the gate they still have to climb over to get into the park.

“Oh, come on, you deserve more than that. It’s a holiday, Weiss! Let loose! Go crazy!” Ruby hums, nuzzling the alabaster girl.

“...Maybe one of those doughnuts Nora was going on about.”

Ruby grins and nods vigorously. “ _Now_ you’re getting it.”

“I wonder if they have turnip-shaped pastries.” Penny muses on Ruby’s other side. “Why prioritize one particular Jack O’ Lantern?”

“Well, pumpkins are native to North America. So, they took a little more prevalence in people’s minds, I suppose. When the tradition passed over here with immigrants, they took the native vegetation, instead. Of course, they became the face of the holiday as it transformed into less of a spiritual thing and more of a ‘let’s make a lot of candy and costume sales’ thing. Once companies found they could make money off the likeness, it was always going to stay that way.” Weiss replies, while Ruby does her very best to look like she knows what they’re talking about.

“Fuck, that’s one cynical world view you’ve got, Schnee.” Blake says, drawing Weiss’ attention and blush.

“Well, try being raised by a man like my father and see what that does for you. Everything’s just ‘how can I market that’ to him.” She says, a hint of bitterness in her voice that’s impossible to miss. Blake doesn’t press the issue any further, merely nodding and looking ahead. Well, at least annoyed is better than full-on panic attack. Yang spots Ruby reassuringly squeezing her girlfriend’s hand.

“Hey, Ruby?”

The redhead looks up from Weiss and over at her sister. “Yeah, sis?”

“I’m gonna go hang at Blake’s house, tonight. Think you guys can get home safe and stuff?” She asks. Though, she knows their neighborhood is a pretty safe one, all things considered. But, still. She can’t help but be worried about her little sis! She’s her precious little rose and she loves her very, very much.

“We will make sure she gets home safely!” Penny says, giving a little salute.

Weiss also nods. “We were planning on staying over at your guys’ house, anyway. Penny already got permission from her dad.”

“He gave us a bunch of old sci-fi horror movies to watch!” Penny exclaims cheerfully. She looks to Ruby with a smile. “I cannot contain my excitement to watch ‘Giant Ants All Out Attack’.”

“I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not.”

Penny just giggles.

Ruby glances back to Yang. “Are you guys going to the cafe?”

Lilac briefly meets amber. They don’t even need to speak to be in agreement that this is a conversation that can’t really wait. It’s been too long coming. And, that near kiss has just made things all the more clear to them both. No more distractions. They needed to talk about this. “Probably not. We, uh...”

“Have to get home before my parents go to bed. Wouldn’t want to wake them up by coming in through the door late. Well, my mom, anyway. Dad sleeps like a log.” Blake finishes evenly. That seems to convince them handily enough. She looks to Weiss as the reach the gate separating the park from the forest. They can hear the chatter of the other four as they come up behind them. “Oh, Weiss?”

“Hm?”

“I’m… sorry for how tonight went. I’ll make it up to you, somehow.”

“Don’t.” The girl says in response, already hooking her foot into the chain-link fence to get herself up and over. Yang’s glad she’s wearing tights, because her skirt bunches up when she gets to the top. She looks ready to completely forget about that. It’s already seeming to settle in her as embarrassment rather than fear. “You couldn’t have known I would have… that reaction. Or, see that. I would rather just forget it ever happened, if that’s alright with you. Continue acting like all that happened, ngh-”

With the flexibility of a dancer, she flips herself over the top of the fence and lands perfectly on her feet on the other side. “Was that I rolled my eyes, called the place lame, and we all cleared out of there from boredom. I didn’t see anything, I didn’t freak out, nothing. Okay? Okay.”

Blake smirks a little bit. “Okay.”

They all hop over the fence pretty easily. Yang, herself has a slightly more challenging time, but still manages it just fine. As they come back into town, it feels like there’s more activity than when they left for the house. There’s, at least, trick or treaters running around with their parents. The festivities make things a lot more lively. Ruby grins widely, silver eyes flicking off all the costumes. “Ohhh, the Halloween stuff’s still going on!”

“We’re not going up to people’s houses to get candy, Ruby.” Weiss says dully.

“I know thaaaaaaat!”

They all say their goodbyes to the departing Yang and Blake, with Ruby zooming up to give her sister a big hug before she does (adding a ‘make sure to text dad, he worries!’), and head off in opposite directions. Blake’s house actually isn’t too far away from Oum Park. Which makes sense, considering the fact she seems to wander the forest out behind it a lot. She can spot the Belladonna household from a mile away. It’s another one of the houses with a more gothic influence, though not nearly as much as the mysterious house in the woods. There are no gargoyles anywhere in sight, in this case.

It’s definitely on the bigger side, though. The Belladonnas certainly weren’t broke.

She spots Blake’s mom sitting on the porch, handing out the kid’s choice of cookies or a full-sized candy bar. It kind of prickles her heart a bit, remembering someone else who used to hand out cookies on Halloween. She viciously shoves that memory the furthest back, so hard that it makes her head hurt. Blake must see her face change, because she puts a hand to her arm and looks questioningly at her. Yang shakes her head. Some things, she won’t even tell Blake right now. “It’s nothing. Um. Your mom looks like she’s enjoying herself.”

Blake smiles a little. “She always does.”

As they walk up to the porch, Kali sees them and gives a big smile as she gets to her feet. She gets a good look at her costume. A long, dark gown and cloak, with a big witch’s hat atop her head. And, little holes for her ears to comfortably poke out, of course. There’s also some sort of glittery effect on her dark skin, making her shimmer when the lights hit her just right. It’s pretty adorable. She kind of wonders what Ghira is dressed up as, considering last year they were the world’s shortest Morticia and tallest Gomez respectively. Yang is immediately wrapped in a big hug from the tiny woman, who then pulls back and smiles up at her. “Nice to see you, dear. It’s been too long!”

“Heh. Sorry about that. Just been busy.” She says. Busy avoiding your daughter, that is. But, hopefully this is going to fix that. “You, um… getting a lot of trick or treaters?”

“Oh, yes. And, some of them are even taking the cookies, this year.” Kali says, hands clasping together and looking very pleased with herself. “Word must have gotten out from last year.”

“I mean, I ate like a whole plate, at least.”

“I’ll be sure to save a plate for you and your sister.” The older woman says with a smile, though walks over and plucks one from the plate to hand to the blonde with a wink. “You can have one, now, though. In case something… unfortunate happens to them when you bring them home.”

Yang snorts and takes the little ghost-shaped cookie with a grin. “Yeah, like a little redheaded vacuum cleaner inhaling them as soon as I step in the door.”

Blake clears her throat softly. She has something of an urgent expression. She must… really want to get on with things. “Mom, is it alright if Yang stays over?”

Kali blinks a few times, then nods. “Oh, of course. As long as her father’s okay with it, I don’t see why not. Help yourself to anything in the kitchen, if you’re hungry.” She says as she glances just past them. There seems to be a queue forming behind Yang and Blake of children looking at them curiously. “Heh. I think you’re holding up the line, girls. I’ll be out here for a while, if you need anything!”

Blake smiles and leans in, giving her mother an affectionate little nuzzle. “Thanks, mom. Have fun.”

“Nice seein’ ya, Mrs. Belladonna!” Yang adds as Blake all but drags her into the house.

She looks to Blake, who glances back to her as they shut the door behind them. She blushes when she finds the faunus right up close to her again, looking up into her eyes. She’s got a determined look on her face. Like she knows she wants something and is figuring out the best way to get it. It would be charming any other time. If the thing she was looking at wasn’t Yang, herself. Because, now? Now, it was terrifying. Terrifying and exciting. There are so many things that run through her head to say. Things she should have said weeks ago. Things she’d been actively trying to avoid saying. But, now, there’s nothing to do but accept the fact.

She wanted her best friend as more than a best friend. There was no other way to say it. Nowhere to run. And, they both knew, so there was nowhere to hide, either.

But, to get it out is the hardest thing. Her words choke up in her throat at the sight of those gorgeous eyes. That slight furrow in her brow as she, too, figures out what she wants to say. Sure, she’s been flirting right along all night, but there’s a difference between doing that and actually coming out and saying ‘I’m romantically interested in you, please date me’. Come to think of it, most of their banter before they even got to this point had pretty much been flirting, anyway, hadn’t it?

“So...” Yang says, worrying her lip between her teeth for a moment. She her fingers fidget against the cookie in her hand. “We’ve got to talk, right?”

“Mhm.” Blake replies.

“So, um… should I start at the beginning? Or, like… Should I try and make something flowery up? I-I mean, I’ve never… I’ve never talked about this kind of thing with anyone. Or, or _felt_ this kind of thing for anyone and I-I just don’t want to… to...” She says, her cheeks starting to light up. She’s already making such a mess of this.

“Yang?”

“Yeah?”

Her eyes widen just in time for Blake’s lips to meet her own.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope this isn't too much of a mess!

She ends up all but pushed to the door with the charge Blake takes in the matter. She’s not sure what she’d expected from Blake when they’d started talking, but it _definitely_ wasn’t ‘and then Blake pushes me against a door and kisses the shit out of me’. It’s not even a chaste kiss, either. She can feel the desire in it. It’s like Blake’s been pent up and the cork finally shot out of the bottle and… Okay, this metaphor was getting out of hand, but the point is that she was in no way expecting this.

She does her best to keep up, despite her surprise, because this is pretty much all she’s ever wanted to do. But, it’s pretty hard when Blake’s taken such control of the kiss. When they finally part, Yang can barely breathe. Her chest rises and falls, breaths panting out of her mouth. Blake’s eyes are shiny and her fingers are curled into the door. Her lips are still close. Close enough she can feel Blake’s warm, damp breath against her own. “You… have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.” She finally manages after making sure her lungs have enough oxygen.

Yang isn’t sure she can speak.

She opens and closes her mouth a few times. “You have?” She manages to choke out.

Blake releases a soft hissing sound, Yang glancing to the side to see the girl’s fingers curl more heavily into the door. Oh. Well, that certainly showed what she felt before she even said anything. Another glance at her tail shows reveals even more. Her tail is slowly swishing back and forth in a manner that’s less than casual. And, her eyes haven’t left the blonde’s the entire time she’s been pinned to the door. There’s a wide mix of emotions in them, from desire to frustration. Her pupils have started to thin to little slits. It’s… pretty hot and kind of terrifying. But, to be honest, this was _all_ kind of terrifying and new. And, hot.

“Yes.” Blake answers simply, still panting, then is silent for a moment. Her ears flatten against her head and an incredulous expression comes across her face. “Wait.. Is this why you’ve been avoiding me?”

Yang has the decency to look sheepish.

“Um…”

Blake gives her a rather intense look, then groans softly. “You’ve been avoiding me because you had a crush on me?”

“Yes.”

“Since when?”

“Uh.. Well, that bob cut kind of slapped me across the face.” She admits, thinking back on that time a little bit. She’d always knew Blake was attractive, but it was that damn bob cut that made her eyes start to wander all over.

Blake’s eyes briefly glance to her own hair, then she groans again and pushes closer. Yang’s not sure if it’s possible for a human being to fuse with a door, but it might start happening if Blake pushes any closer. “ _That long_?” She asks, her voice almost coming close to a whine.

Yang bites her lip and blushes. “S-Sorry..”

Blake shakes her head, eyes wide. “No, no! It’s not your fault, I just… Ugh, I thought I made a mistake or something.”

“A mistake…?”

“That I came on too strong or...”

“Came on too strong?” Yang then blinks, jaw dropping. She can feel heat very quickly rising to her face. She wouldn’t deny that her face probably looked a lot like her sister’s hair right now. “Blake, were you flirting with me?”

Blake looks to the side, embarrassed. “Well, ah… I was trying to. I kind of realized I couldn’t just… not do anything, anymore. If I didn’t at least try, I would never be able to live with myself. So, I started trying to flirt to test the waters. And, then, you just started avoiding me and… having excuses to not see me and...”

Yang bites her lip hard. “You thought I wasn’t into it.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, uh… I feel like an idiot.”

Blake pushes her face into Yang’s neck. Which, she realizes, is something that she very much likes. Then, she makes a groaning sound and gets all sorts of goosebumps rising on her skin. “You’re not the only one. I didn’t even realize. I only even started to get a hint of the reason why you were _tonight_. Because of how you reacted.”

“God.”

“I know.”

“Okay, so, like… I know we play around and call Weiss the useless lesbian...” Yang starts with a tiny smile, which makes Blake look up with the returnings of a little smirk. “But, I think that we might have to take the crown.”

“I’m more just devastated at the things we could have been doing while we were running around each other.” Blake replies, seeming to be in good enough humor about the whole situation. Despite the absurdity of the situation, Yang was finding herself feeling much the same. Maybe the fact that they had jumped through enough of the hoops they created for themselves would mean they would work well together. Hell, they’d been the greatest of friends before this little awkward and confusing detour.

“What things?” Yang asks innocently.

Blake grins sharply, tail starting to wag behind her again. “Oh, I don’t know… Something like this.”

And, then her lips are crashing into Yang’s again. Back to the heated kiss they’d been sharing moments before. It was as if the fire never left. And, honestly, it felt more like it had been rekindled and was burning brighter than ever. A little clarification goes a long way. And, Blake was definitely looking to make up for lost time. She was downright _hungry_.

She finds herself groaning as Blake’s sharp teeth graze along her bottom lip. Her arm seeks any purchase against the door she can get and she kisses back as best she can. Blake is clearly dominating again, however. And, the blonde can’t help the spark of arousal that shoots through her body. Blake was always confident, if soft spoken. And, to see that her personality turns into _this_ when she wants something is a new and fascinating thing to discover. A girl that can dom her might… just be the greatest thing she’s ever discovered.

She’s so lost in the kiss, that she doesn’t even take a moment to remember that she’s leaning on a door, Or, that Kali was outside. Or, that kids were outside. And, when Blake’s tongue pushes past her parted lips to take the kiss into a deeper, more intimate territory, those already absent thoughts are pushed even farther back. Her eyes close; her mind is solely focused on the kiss.

Until she hears the loud clunking of boots and a deep ‘ahem’ come from behind Blake.

Her eyes snap open and come to meet the similarly amber eyes of one Ghira Belladonna. Honestly, if the situation was a little less awkward, she’d really enjoy the fact that he’s in full classic wizard attire. Big, blue coat with the white stars on it, gigantic sleeves, an enormous, fake grey beard, and a large, pointy wizard hat. He and his wife looked like two types of magic out of different ages and it was pretty great. His expression isn’t, though. It’s stern and he crosses his arms as cocks his head. Blake seems to realize what’s going on, because she pulls her lips back with a wet smack that feels as loud as a bomb going off.

Yang gulps, offering a weak wave. “...Hey, Mr. Belladonna...”

Me and your daughter were _totally_ not making out against the door to your home. Nope, no sir.

Blake winces, then turns around to face him slowly. Her dark skin is flush with embarrassment and lingering arousal. Which… can’t be easy to have on your face when you’re talking to your dad. “Hey… dad. You, ah... look great.” She says in an awful attempt to try and lead the conversation away from what was just occurring. Yang smacks her hand to her face.

Ghira doesn’t take his eyes off his daughter once he starts looking at her. “It seems you two are getting along again.”

Blake’s eyes shift to the side. “...Yes. We, um. We figured things out.”

“I can see that. More than a few things, evidently.”

If a hole could just come and swallow her up, she’d gladly accept it. Maybe there was a chance that ghost in the house was real and she could just come and kill her right now. That would be preferable to being anywhere near this conversation right now. Because, now he’s not just looking at Blake. He keeps taking looks back to the girl his daughter just had pinned to his front door. She and Ghira always got along really well, just like with Kali. She was Blake’s first real, true friend when they first moved out here. But, maybe this is too far?

He raises his eyebrow at Yang, then looks back to his incredibly embarrassed daughter. She doesn’t seem to want to be part of this conversation any more than Yang does. “I assume she’s staying over?” He asks.

“...Yeah, I asked mom.”

Yang kind of wonders if she’s going to be sent right home with a glance of disappointment. But, Ghira instead just shakes his head with a low chuckle. “Well, I’d tell you to behave, but I really doubt that’s going to happen regardless of what I say. I know how it is.” He says as he uncrosses his arms. That puts Yang more immediately at ease. She’d never had any notion he’d get violent or physical, but disappointment could be just as strong a weapon.

“Dad...” Blake mutters in embarrassment.

“Me and your mother were much the same way when we were young. Once we were together, we could barely keep our hands off each other.” He continues, much to Blake’s horror. “Don’t even get me started on when things got more intimate...”

“Oh my god, dad, please.” Blake says urgently, quickly rushing past him with her face completely covered in her blush. She speeds right up the stairs behind them and likely to her bedroom to die. Of course, she completely forgets Yang in her complete fluster and efforts to get away from her father’s tales.

Yang blinks a few times before looking up at the large man. “...You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”

He glances down with a knowing smile. “Maybe.”

“Sorry… about that, by the way. That was probably kinda weird.”

“Don’t worry about it. Despite the bluster, I do know what it’s like to be young and in love. It sometimes gets you into embarrassing situations.” He says, eyes squinting like he’s remembering some far off memory he’d rather like to forget. “I’m glad you two are getting along again. Blake has been worried.”

“Sorry. Just… we needed to sort stuff out, I guess.”

“Such is the nature of things.”

Yang bites her lip a little bit, rubbing the back of her neck. “Y’know, when you first came in, I thought you were gonna give me the whole ‘hurt my daughter and I’ll kill you’ speech.” She says with a small, nervous laugh.

“Oh, goodness, no. I got that enough from Kali’s father to know that I despise that sort of talk. It serves no purpose other than to strike unnecessary fear in a young person. The world at that age is already confusing and frightening enough. Beside the fact, I know you, Yang. I know you won’t do anything like that.” He says, making Yang smile a bit in embarrassment. “All I ask is that you treat each other with respect. On both ends, of course. Be responsible.”

“Of course.” The blonde’s smile is a little less embarrassed, this time. A little more sure. “So, you going to hang out with the missus?”

The large faunus gives a slow nod in response. “It’s something we very much look forward to every year. The smiles on the children’s faces never fail to make the day special. For Kali, especially. Being a teacher helps. She loves interacting with the kids and they all love her in turn.”

“Well, it’s probably a toss-up between her and her cookies.”

That gets a deep laugh out of Ghira and his large hand claps her on the back. She’s pretty pleased that she took it and didn’t stumble forward. “That is a fair point. Her cooking is always spectacular.” He smiles at her, then drops his voice down to a careful quiet. “I really am glad that you two have found your spark once more. Speaking from many years of experience, the best relationships come from a person who is truly your best friend. And, one that continues to be so, even after romantic intentions are made.”

“Th-Thank you, sir.”

Ghira chuckles once more. “It’s still just ‘Ghira’ to you, Yang. Now, go on. I’m sure my daughter needs a distraction from her embarrassment.”

The blonde gives a grin and a nod, then heads toward the stairs.

Of course, the sight she comes across when she gets to Blake’s room is absolutely delightful. Blake had taken this embarrassing situation in probably the best manner a person could. By face-planting on her bed and hiding her face in a pillow. Yang can’t help but grin as she leans on the door frame, finding just a little spark of confidence in seeing the normally confident girl acting so _cute_. “Well, well, well~ What do we have here?” She hums, immediately seeing a reaction in Blake’s perking ears.

The girl in question shifts enough that Yang can see a surprised eye peeking out, then groans as she rolls onto her back. She’s got a blush and a slightly annoyed expression on her face. “Shut up.”

She can’t help but giggle lightly at that, biting her lip as she strolls over to the bed. “Y’know, you left me there with your dad. After we were making out against the door. To talk.”

Blake shoots up into a sitting position, eyes widening as if she’d just realized this could be a possibility. “Shit.” She hisses quietly, looking even more embarrassed at this. Mortified, even. “I’m sorry… That was just…”

“It’s all good. Didn’t even get a talking to. He seemed glad that we were getting along again.” Blake rolls her eyes a little to this. She’s still pretty embarrassed. Her amber eyes follow the blonde as she plops down on the bed with a more relaxed sigh. Well, as relaxed as you can be when you’re caught making out by your… girlfriend’s (?) dad. That thought makes Yang blink slowly. “Hey, Blake?”

“Yeah?”

“So… are we, like...” She fiddles with the sheet of Blake’s bed and licks her lips nervously. “Y’know...”

Blake gets something of a smile back. “Dating?”

“Yeah.”

Blake sits herself up a little bit. Her tail has casually started to swish against her sheets. “I mean… After all that, it would almost be a shame if we didn’t. Dunno if you can really make out like that and just go back to being friends?” She says with a small laugh. Her smile’s returned almost completely. Especially when her eyes slip back to meet her own. Yang can’t help but stare at her as she does so, lips parting lightly in awe.

How was she so damn _pretty_?

The faunus probably made her feel the most concentrated gayness she’d ever felt.

The fact that Blake could go from being the one who’s completely embarrassed to the one firmly in charge of the situation probably said something about their dynamic.

“I-I mean, I just… wanted to make sure, I guess.” She is finally able to stammer out. Her blush starts to fill her face as Blake starts to sidle in closer to her. Her cheeks are scorching by the time the girl lays a kiss down on them, batting those long, dark lashes at her. She’s immediately filled with the image of that hungry look in Blake eyes just moments ago when she pinned her up against the door.

“I’m very sure.” She purrs softly. A finger starts curling around a blonde lock of hair. “But, I’ll ask it so that we can make it official. Would you, Yang Xiao Long, like to be my girlfriend?”

“ _Yes_.” She manages to squeeze out in response. This sends a look of delight across Blake’s face and her lips soon find Yang’s again. This time, it’s only a light, affectionate brush. Nothing like the claiming one laid against her earlier. She can’t help her lips lightly trembling against Blake’s, wanting more.

“Ah, ah...” Blake chides gently, Yang able to feel lips brushing hers with every word. “Much as I want to get right back into… that. We probably shouldn’t. Not for a while, anyway.”

Yang blinks dumbly at her.

“My parents are still here, Yang. And, I really don’t want a second run-in. Dad’s already going to be smug enough about this one. And, don’t even get me _started_ about when mom finds out. I would just prefer… maybe a time when they’re not already aware of something going on.” Blake replies flatly, though seems to still have enough humor about the situation to not be upset.

“Okay.” Yang says with a nod, then scratches her head with her good arm. “Umm… So, what should two hormonally charged teenagers do on Halloween? In one of their bedrooms? While trying not to make out. Because one of them is unfairly hot.”

Blake’s gaze borders on predatory for a moment. Yang’s almost surprised by the look of _want_ in her eyes. She has to actually give her head a little shake to clear it out, a slightly more nervous laugh spilling from her lips when she notes that the blonde is staring at her with wide eyes. “Well, I think it’s debatable who’s unfairly hot, here-”

“No, it isn’t, Miss Bob Cut.”

“Flatterer.” The faunus rolls her eyes fondly, then puts her arms behind her head with a sigh. “I dunno… could watch a movie or something. Maybe something… horror related. Could watch some true crime documentaries? I was watching one yesterday about the ‘Scorpion Killer’.”

Yang raises her eyebrow. “Scorpion Killer?”

“Mm-hm. Faunus with scorpion traits. He’d sting people in the back with his tail and inject them full of venom. He was really good at avoiding the police, so he went uncaught for a number of years.” Blake purses her lips up. “He’s part of the reason why there’s been a call for the removal of poison glands in scorpion faunus for years. But, they haven’t been able to come up with a way to safely do it without injury to the tail’s major structures. Not that some people really care.”

“Sheesh. One guy’s gotta mess shit up for everybody.”

“Dad recently had a case protecting a scorpion faunus that had a gang of humans try and crush the venom gland of her tail, actually. Could have paralyzed her entire tail.”

“ _Please_ tell me she won?”

Blake smirks at her girlfriend. “It’s my dad. Of course she did.”

“Good.”

“It’s actually one of a few cases based around faunus tails that have been building up over the years. Naturally, this one was more severe. But, it’s added to ones like… cat or monkey faunus waiters getting their tails tugged for example. Tails are more sensitive than people seem to realize. Not that you should touch anyone without consent ever, but tugging a tail is different than tugging an arm. They are very sensitive limbs. Tugging on a cat or monkey faunus’ tail the wrong way or too hard can lead to rather intense pain. Reptile faunus can have their tails pop right off, if they feel in enough danger. They grow back eventually, but it’s still a traumatizing experience.”

Yang listens on with rapt attention, Blake seeming to realize that she’s been going on about this for a while and coughing into her hand. “Sorry. I, uh… got a little carried away there. That kind of stuff hits home for me.” She says, her tail idly swishing behind her before curling up in a manner that’s almost defensive. Yang’s pretty sure Blake doesn’t even know she’s doing it.

“It’s fine. I like watching you talk about stuff you’re passionate about.” She replies with a smile, gently bumping her head against Blake’s. “But, uh… maybe avoid the true crime for tonight? Feels a little… too real. Got anything that’s spooky and doesn’t involve people getting killed?”

Blake chuckles quietly and sits herself up. “Well… I have a documentary on Isla de las Muñecas that I’ve been meaning to watch.”

“Isla de… what now?” Yang asks with a confused brow.

“Isla de las Muñecas. Or, ‘Island of the Dolls’.” Blake explains, delighting in the further confusion of her girlfriend. “It’s a small island just south of Mexico City… that’s completely adorned with old dolls and their severed appendages. All through the trees and positioned in odd ways. Some people say it’s haunted by the spirits of children. There’s more to it, obviously, but I have yet to watch the documentary. Figure it could be interesting. Might even persuade me to take a trip down there and see for myself?”

“Really?” Yang grins. Blake’s sense of adventure was definitely something that couldn’t be denied. “After all that back at that house, you’d wanna go to another haunted place so soon?”

“What can I say? I’m curious about the unknown.”

Yang bites her lip and barely holds back a laugh. Blake seems to realize what’s coming and gives her a pout. “Don’t you dare make a joke. I’m going to put that documentary in. And, if I hear one crack before I get back, you’re on the floor.”

Yang raises her arms in surrender, though is still smiling as the girl slips off the bed. Partly because of Blake’s reaction and partly because… well, how could she not after this weird, wonderful night? She settles into the bed, watching Blake walk around and get things set up, fully ready to relax and spend some time watching something weird with her new girlfriend.

* * *

“I have a scary joke.” Penny says suddenly, looking up from her pumpkin-shaped doughnut.

Ruby seems happy enough to ask ‘what is it?’, so Weiss just busies herself with scrolling through her phone. Her own doughnut laid on a little napkin with a single, tiny bite taken out of it. She couldn’t deny that it was a decent enough pastry. But, it had far too icing for her to be comfortable with it. She couldn’t really deal with sweets the same way Ruby could. Hell, Ruby could probably pack away a dozen of these and not show any ill effects.

Aside from the seemingly perpetual baby fat on her cheeks, her body didn’t show any signs of being affected by the junk she practically inhaled into her body. Either in the long term or in a more immediate manner, like barfing. Maybe it just ran in the athletic family that were the Xiao Longs. She’d been to a buffet with the two sisters and their father, then watched in horror at exactly how much they packed away before they were done.

Speaking of horror, however, Weiss was not simply perusing her phone at her leisure. She’d been increasingly more focused in looking up the strange house Blake had brought them to. She simply had to know what she could have seen. That ghastly, pale woman that came at her from the darkness had driven a cold spike of fear in her heart so deep that it took almost twenty minutes for her to fully calm down. She liked to think she was a rational person. Far above this ‘ spooky ghost’ bullshit.

But, that… She knew what she saw. And, maybe the history of the house would tell her more. If she could even find it. It’s briefly forgotten when her girlfriend cheerfully starts with her joke.

“A doctor told his patient ‘I have bad news and worse news’.” Penny starts with a smile. “The patient asked ‘Oh, dear, what is the bad news’?. The doctor replied ‘You only have twenty-four hours to live’!”

Ruby cocks her head and Weiss glances up from her phone with a raised eyebrow.

“..’That is terrible!’ The patient replied. ‘How could the other news possibly be any worse’?” The girl nods her head. “Then, the doctor said ‘I have been trying to contact you since yesterday’!”

Both her girlfriends stare at her, to which Penny beams innocently. “Do you get it? It is scary, because the patient’s death is imminent. But, funny because of the subversion of expectations! One would not expect the second statement from the doctor.”

Ruby can’t help but snort, especially from Penny’s commentary afterward. Weiss just rolls her eyes and smiles warmly at the ginger girl. “I get it, Penny. Nice.” She says, which makes the girl beam at her girlfriends.

Penny was a girl completely fed through affection and words. She didn’t really get as involved in the… heavier side of the relationship. She was more all about hugs and cuddles and kisses. And, that was completely fine for Weiss. The first time Penny had shied away from a more intimate touch, Weiss had almost had a panic attack in thinking she’d done something wrong. Penny looked equally as mortified that Weiss might have misunderstood. Both of them, red in the face and unable to do anything more than stammer, had needed to rely on their third to swoop in and explain.

Penny wasn’t into sex. The idea of actually engaging in it made her every kind of uncomfortable. Penny had explained it as ‘a weird feeling in her guts’ every time she thought about herself engaging in ‘sexual intercourse’. She didn’t see it as disgusting, however. She never made any qualms about Ruby and Weiss doing so. She even liked to watch. Ruby and Weiss had made sure to include her whenever things went in that direction. If they started making out and slipping hands under clothes, it was all too common a sight to have Ruby slide a hand out toward Penny’s. Penny would get a little grin and squeeze the hand, sometimes even raising it up to her mouth to gently kiss.

Weiss loved it when Penny did that because she could _feel_ the way Ruby reacted to it. Like the soft, innocent affection from Penny and the eroticism of whatever Weiss happened to be focusing on mixed into a perfect storm of pleasure. Weiss could hardly blame Ruby, either. When Penny would slip in to surprise her with a sweet, loving kiss as Ruby was doing that _thing_ with her tongue, well…

Weiss is embarrassed to this day at exactly how fast that combination had pushed her over the edge.

_I think I’m gonna call you ‘squirt’, from now on._

_Oh! Because she is short?_

_Please do NOT._

Seeing how she didn’t really enjoy sex in the traditional sense, Weiss used every method available to her to show her how much she loved her. And, that included praise. This always seemed to get Penny all blushy and happy, so Weiss took any opportunity to point things out she liked about the girl. Even if it was just complimenting something she’d said, it was lovely to get a reaction like that.

As they had been seeing each other, their triad had only grown closer and more knowledgeable of each other’s feelings.

Their relationship might have seemed odd or even taboo to some people, but Weiss honestly couldn’t give any less of a shit to people who didn’t accept them. It was either accept it or get out of her fucking way. Because, these two girls were the prime source of happiness in her life. And, she wasn’t going to let some outsider decide what was right for her.

She already got enough of that shit at home.

“Oh! How about one that is cuter?” Penny asks, leaning toward Weiss in particular.

“Oh?”

“What is the favorite meal of a ghost?”

“Mm. I dunno, what?”

“Spook-ghetti.”

Oh, Weiss _rolls_ her eyes at that. Much to her girlfriends’ delight. “That’s it. You’re not allowed to hang out with Yang anymore, if this is the result.” She says, though smiles despite herself. Ruby leans in and gives her a big smooch on the cheek.

“C’mon, you love it~” The redhead coos, giving her another few kisses until Weiss is sufficiently pink. She bats the affectionate girl away from her, only to get Penny leaning over to get a kiss on her other cheek. Her girlfriends delighted _way_ to much in getting her flustered with kisses. She shakes both of the giggling girls off with a flustered ‘ughhhh’.

Being so close to her, Ruby can’t help but take a glance at what Weiss is looking up on her phone. Her eyebrow raises when she sees that it all seems to be efforts into looking up the very house they were just in about an hour ago. Weiss can tell the girl is a bit surprised by this, considering her eyebrows are up in her hairline. “What’re you lookin’ up that stuff for?” She asks in confusion.

Weiss sighs and leans her face on one of her hands. “I’m trying to figure out the history of that house. I need to figure out why I think… why I _saw_ what I saw.”

Penny and Ruby exchange glances that they think Weiss doesn’t see.

“I know it’s strange. I know. But, I won’t be able to rest until I have a rational explanation for what happened in there. Even if said ‘rational explanation’ doesn’t make sense. I need to have a _reason_ I saw that… that _poltergeist_. But, I can’t find anything. It’s almost as if it doesn’t exist at all.”

The two seem to consider a moment. Penny speaks up with a soft clearing of her throat. She seems a bit uneasy about this, but also determined to help Weiss get through this however she needed to. Ruby looks much the same. “If we could get into the town records, there may be some information there. Papa has clearance to get inside records based on architecture, specifically. Perhaps we could inquire about it to him?”

Weiss taps her fingers on the table, vaguely hearing their friends chattering from the counter. She knows none of them really believe her. She knows her girlfriends will support her however they can, but they didn’t see it. Ruby didn’t see anything and Penny doesn’t really believe in any sort of spirituality. Like Weiss used to. But _she_ knows what she saw. “Probably our best shot. Let’s go tomorrow after school.”


End file.
